ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Argsoino Seeks Reconsideration to Inhibit Justices

Argsoino Seeks Reconsideration to Inhibit Justices

Published Jun 30, 2020 04:04 pm
By Czarina Nicole Ong Former Bureau of
 Immigration Deputy Commissioner Al C. Argosino has filed a motion for reconsideration before the Sandiganbayan appealing the court's denial to inhibit the Sixth Division justices and to re-raffle the case. Former Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Al Argosino (Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Former Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Al Argosino
(Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Argosino and fellow ex-BI Commissioner Michael Robles earlier filed motions to inhibit, insisting that Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez should be kept from handling their case since she was the former classmate of Laurence Hector B. Arroyo, the counsel of another one their co-accused – Asian Gaming
Service Providers
Association Inc. President Wenceslao Sombero Jr.

Argosino wanted Associate Justices Karl Miranda and Zaldy Trespeses to inhibit for  “partiality, bias, and unfairness." He said their partiality can be gleaned on their resolutions, which kept him from posting bail for his plunder charge and refusing to quash his charges.

The three of them are facing a violation of Republic Act No. 7080 or the act defining and penalizing plunder, as well as violations of Section 3(e) of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code or bribery, and Presidential Decree No. 46, which prohibits the giving gifts to public employees, stemming from the  reported extortion of P50 million from 1,316 arrested Chinese nationals who were violating Philippine immigration laws.
The Sixth Division denied their motions for lack of merit. Even though Fernandez was indeed the classmate of Arroyo, it does not mean that they have any "substantial interaction."
In his MR, Argosino said that bias and partiality were present at the very first instance the Sixth Division handled his cases, and he was deprived of liberty without any warrant of arrest. 

He begged a perusal of the resolution regarding his illegal arrest or detention, which is different from what actually transpired. The day of his arrest, Argosino said that he was already prevented from leaving even though there was no warrant of arrest out yet. Only the hold departure order was presented.

"Basic is the rule that a person can be deprived only of his constitutionally protected liberty when there is a warrant of arrest and in some cases, the so-called warrantless arrest, which is obviously not applicable in this case," the MR read.

The court said that Argosino and his co-accused, Robles, voluntarily surrendered. But Argosino said that reasoning is rather "flimsy."
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.