MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court has fined the judge currently presiding over the case of a former lawmaker and 14 others who have been linked to the 2007 bombing at the House of Representatives for inaction on cases he had handled as a lower court judge.

who was also a former recipient of 2004 Judicial Excellence Award.

In its decision, the high court asked Branch 83 Judge Ralph S. Lee of the Quezon City regional trial court to pay P20,000 for failing to decide within the period fixed by law the cases he left behind when he was a first-level court judge.

Section 9(1) Rule 140 of the Rules of Court and Section 11 (b) of the same Rule provide that “undue delay in rendering a decision or order constitutes a less serious charge punishable by suspension from office without salary and other benefits for not less than one month but not more than three months or a fine of more than P10,000 but not exceeding P20,000.”

The high court said they have imposed the maximum fine “in order not to adversely affect” the work at Lee’s sala.

Lee, chosen in 2004 as Outstanding First Level Court Judge when he was then Presiding Judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) Quezon City, Branch 38, was also warned that a repeat of the offense would be dealt with more severely.

The Court found Judge Lee liable for undue delay in deciding the cases he had left behind in the MeTC.

“We deem it appropriate to impose the maximum fine of P20,000 on Judge Lee considering that his transgression touched on parties’ right to the speedy disposition of their cases and that fact that he is already a repeat offender. We note that, as reported by the [Office of Court Administrator] OCA, he had been fined P5,000 for indirect contempt by the Court in an earlier administrative matter,” said the high court said through Associate Justice Arturo D. Brion.

The high court noted that following his promotion to the regional trial court in 2005, Lee has been submitting “grossly inaccurate entries” in his monthly report and a certification stating that he had no pending cases in the MeTC when he assumed post as RTC judge. But the high court discovered that he had three undecided cases.

Lee is currently handling the case against a former lawmaker, Gerry Salapuddin, and several others in connection with the bombing at the Batasan Building in 2007, killing at least four, including Congressman Wahab Akbar.