For Quezon City RTC Judge Cortez, cowardice and injustice perfectly rhyme and jibe.
Judge Cortez said that the reason why he inhibited himself from the celebrated case is that he fears for his life and for the safety of his family. It’s obvious that he dreads the suspects — the powerful Ampatuan clan of Maguindanáo. Of course, nobody wanted one’s family to be put in harm’s way. But Judge Cortez should’ve known about the hazards of entering the world of Philippine Judiciary a long time ago, back while he was still studying law in San Beda College during the 80s.
It is unfortunate that the blood of the 57 victims of that senseless November 23rd bloodbath have been disrespected once again.
This is cowardice of the highest order. Judge Cortez has shamed his profession. Lady Justice has just been stripped naked.
E ‘di sana nagtindá na lang siyá ng tocneneng. O cayá naglacó na lang ng alátires. Más ligtás na trabajo yun, ¿’di bá?
FILIPINO eSCRIBBLES 
Shame on Judge Cortez! He needs to resign from being a judge. I wonder how many cases he ruled in favor of anyone who intimidated him. How can you then uphold your position as judge if you cannot serve justice? He has to resign and recommend and look into disbarring him. Why did he even become a lawyer? Why is he even a judge? Shame on him!
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I agree, if Judge Cortez can’t take the heat, he should get out of the kitchen.
If I may suggest, he should consider doing judging works on beauty contests instead.
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With all due respect to the writer of the article, Judge Luisito Cortez did not obtain his degree from San Beda. The saying “it’s better for a doctor to commit mistakes for he keeps them in the grave, but worst for a writer or a teacher for he spreads them like wildfile!” makes another breakthrough.
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With all due respect to the person who wrote this reckless comment, it is not written anywhere in this article that Judge Luisito Cortez obtained his degree from San Beda.
Read it again, pare. Where in the world of m0therf*©k did I write that your hero judge obtained his degree from San Beda?
Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs.
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I think your craft is confusing you. Let me quote you: “he was still studying law in San Beda College during the 80s” (this is your exact word. 3rd sentence, second paragraph). True enough that you did not mention that he DID not OBTAIN [obtained as you said] but apparently the insinuation or in the spirit of your language it is. No offense, I mean if you’re the editor of this article this is a tolerable mistake but I hope you get a better one who is a master of the verbum at least to give your blog a good sense of credibility. Another piece of advice, please don’t misquote your reader like when you said “your hero judge” because it seems that you made a mistake in the reading of the comment, which apparently shows you might have copied (your) article from some sources.
For your reference:
you can check this website as to the accuracy of the comment because someone else made it through with correcting the writers’ mistake like the write-up of the Inquirer.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20091219-242866/Clarification_on_3_items
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I concur.
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“I think your craft is confusing you.” — MALICIOUS
“True enough that you did not mention that he DID not OBTAIN [obtained as you said] but apparently the insinuation or in the spirit of your language it is.” — OPINIONATED, A BLOCK HEAD SUPPOSITION
“I mean if you’re the editor of this article this is a tolerable mistake but I hope you get a better one who is a master of the verbum at least to give your blog a good sense of credibility.” — THAT’S THE LEAST OF MY TROUBLES
“Another piece of advice, please don’t misquote your reader like when you said “your hero judge”” — IF YOU HAVE BEEN FRIENDLY AND NOT HOSTILE IN THE FIRST PLACE, I WOULD’VE ACCEPTED ANY GOOD ADVICE FROM YOU. BUT JUDGING FROM THE TONE OF YOUR FIRST COMMENT, IT’S OBVIOUS THAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR TROUBLE. PLEASE, NOT ON THIS SITE, SIR.
“you might have copied (your) article from some sources.” — IT IS NO SECRET THAT Inquirer.net IS THE SOURCE OF MOST OF MY COMMENTARIES. SO WTF?!
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Peace be with you!
With due respect to all the comments, I still believe that a judge has the right to inhibit himself from cases for the reasons given by Law or the Rules of Court. I pray that we should not judge such a judge for his decision on not to handle the controversial case. Let us just leave it at that for who knows, will you do the same if you were Judge Cortez? Happy New Year to all of you!
Philip from San Sebastian Law
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If I were him? No, I will never do such a cowardly act for the very simple reason that I chose to be a judge. Peace be with you, also. =)
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I am lost.
Comments here are saying Cortez is not a San Beda grad. BUT the following article says so –>
http://attylaserna.blogspot.com/2009/12/judge-fears-death.html
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Hmmm… I think it doesn’t matter anymore where he graduated. What matters most is how he tarnished his name and his profession. In case he did graduate in San Beda, does that tarnish the school’s reputation? I don’t think so. One of the most maligned personas in Philippine History, President Ferdinand Marcos, graduated from UP. Do people think ill of UP just because Marcos is from that school? Of course not. Many Filipinos don’t even know he’s a UP alumnus.
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