BILBAO VS PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Facts:

Nelson Bilbao was accused for homicide. In the night of Dec 1995, while victim Enrico Villanueva
was dancing together with his friends cha cha inside the dance hall, the accused approached Enrico,
suddenly there was a blackout and the lights went off, then a gunshot transpired; when the lights were
turned back on Enrico Villanueva was already in the ground; dead. Nelson Bilbao was the 1 st suspect
because earlier that day. Enrico Villanueva was together with his friend, they were seated inside of
Nelson Bilbao’s jeepney. However, they were alighted by Nelson to get outside of his property, following
this, Nelson Bilbao grabbed Enrico Villanueva by his arm and accused him of stealing the antenna of his
jeepney. During trial it was the honorable presiding judge who also acted as the public prosecutor of the
case who decided upon the guilt beyond reasonable doubt of the accused

AC: That he was denied of his due process by judge elumba  by not disqualifying himself from sitting
on and trying Criminal Case No. 17446 despite having participated in the trial as the public
prosecutor. 

Issue: whether nelson was deprived of his due process?

Held: YES. the court set aside the case, and was remanded to the Regional trial court of Bacolod city
and be assigned to any Regional Trial Judge not disqualified under Section 1 of Rule 137 of the Rules of
Court; and INSTRUCTS the new trial judge to resume the trial in Criminal Case No. 17446 starting from
the stage just prior to the assumption of Judge Fernando R. Elumba as the trial judge, and to hear and
decide Criminal Case No. 17446 with reasonable dispatch.

Section 1. Disqualification of judges. - No judge or judicial officer shall sit in any case in which he, or his
wife or child, is pecuniarily interested as heir, legatee, creditor or otherwise, or in which he is related to
either party within the sixth degree of consanguinity or affinity, or to counsel within the fourth degree,
computed according to the rules of the civil law, or in which he has been executor, administrator,
guardian, trustee or counsel, or in which he has presided in any inferior court when his ruling or decision
is the subject of review, without the written consent of all parties in interest, signed by them and
entered upon the record.

Section 1 of Rule 137 is Section 5, Canon 3 of the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine
Judiciary,which pertinently demands the disqualification of a judge who has previously served as a
lawyer of any of the parties