Sandigan justice reveals ties with Revilla lawyer

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January 25, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Associate Justice Karl Miranda, chairman of the Sandiganbayan Third Division handling the non-bailable malversation case against former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., has disclosed his close ties with one of the latter’s lawyers, Ramon Esguerra.

“Honorable, former undersecretary of the DOJ (Department of Justice), Ramon Esguerra, counsel for accused Bong Revilla, is a close and respected friend of mine,” Miranda said during the scheduled arraignment of Revilla and his six co-accused on Friday.

“We were friends since way back when he was the newest undersecretary of the Department of Justice and I was assistant solicitor general of the Office of the Solicitor General. And now, we are co-lecturers at the Philippine Judicial Academy,” Miranda added.

Revilla and his co-accused’s arraignment, however, was deferred due to several pending motions, including the former senator’s motion to quash the case information or the charge sheet and to compel the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct a reinvestigation.

The Third Division is handling a case of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents against Revilla and six former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Bulacan over an alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi town.

Revilla and his six co-accused are also facing a graft case before the Fourth Division of the Sandiganbayan still in connection with the same alleged ghost flood control project.

During Friday’s proceedings, Miranda further disclosed that his brother, Buenaventura Miranda of Chavez, Miranda, Aseoche Law Offices, has acted as counsel for former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearings on the flood control scam.

Miranda said that friendship between a judge and a counsel of a party to the case is not among the valid grounds for mandatory inhibition of the judge in participating in the case’s proceedings.

“Now, you may file whatever pleadings you may file. But I want to emphasize that I have examined both Rule 137 of Rules of Court on the disqualification of judicial officers and the recently passed 2025 Code of Judicial Conduct and Accountability (CJCA)…I found that there are no grounds for the mandatory inhibition of myself (in) both Rule 137 and the 2025 Code of Judicial Conduct and Accountability,” Miranda said.

After undergoing the mandatory seven-day quarantine, Revilla and his co-accused are set to join other inmates in general population at the New Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas. — Emmanuel Tupas