MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the preventive suspension of Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 108 Judge Albert Cansino and Officer-in-Charge and Acting Clerk of Court Mariejoy Lagman, who are both suspected of committing bribery. 

The high court said in a statement that the preventive suspension of the two comes after they allegedly accepted P6 million from a litigant in exchange for a favorable judgment in a civil case.

“To ensure an unhampered formal investigation, the court placed Judge Cansino and OIC-Acting BCC Lagman on preventive suspension for 90 calendar days,” the SC said.

The high court stated Cansino and Lagman were arrested following an entrapment operation by the National Bureau of Investigation.

In his report to the SC en banc, Court Administrator Raul Villanueva said the operation was prompted by an anonymous complaint received by the Judicial Integrity Board via email.

The entrapment operation used five marked P1,000 bills and about P6 million in boodle money.

“In addition to the money, a copy of the order bearing the judge’s signature on the civil case was also confiscated,” the SC said.

The SC noted that both Cansino and Lagman are undergoing criminal investigation before the Department of Justice.