Birth: February 22, 1950

  Judge
  Regional Trial Court VIII

The Wheels of Justice may have turned slowly for the family of slain former councilor Cesar “Abog” Robillo but the “guilty” verdict promulgated by Regional Trial Court Branch 8 Judge Salvador Ibarreta last Friday is expected to console the family for their loss.

Ibarreta was the 13th judge to handle the case after it was raffled off from one judge to another. They gave a variety of reasons  for their voluntary inhibition from the sensational case.

The most common reason given by the judges was their relationship to the lawyers of the witness or some other persons related to the case. Most people, however, believed the case dragged on for 10 long years because of the personalities involved.

Aside from being a councilor, the victim belonged to one of the influential families in the city. A brother of the victim became a judge later on. The fact that the victim’s wife, Mabel Robillo, became a councilor after his death did not help in the resolution of the case.

Joey Herbolingo, one of the accused, is a known broadcaster in the city and is known to have close ties with some politicians. Many of the other accused were in the military.

These circumstances would make one think there must be something special about this judge who was courageous enough to hand down a decision and a guilty verdict at that.

This may be the biggest case tried and decided by Judge Ibarreta. But he admitted “I treated it as an ordinary case; what make this case appear important are the personalities involved.”

“All cases are challenging because they involve the liberty and rights of persons,” he said.

So was he pressured as to what decision he should arrive at?

‘The only key to resisting pressure is to do your job well and decide your cases on the basis of the evidence submitted,” he said. “Only then, can you sleep at night without any guilty feelings,” he added.

He said, “If you allow yourself to be intimidated, madadala ka talaga unya di ka katulog.” He, however, denied he has received death threats in relation to the case.

So who’s this matter-of-factly guy who does not seem to care and be bothered by the fact that he has become a hero of sorts after his promulgation?

This 50-year-old Dabawenyo is a true-blue Atenean who finished grade and high school at the Ateneo de Davao and college and law school at the Ateneo de Manila. He passed the bar in 1974.

He said he is not new to big cases as he used to handle them while still employed as a legal officer and then solicitor with the Office of the President (under Ferdinand Marcos) and the Office of the Solicitor General.

Ibarreta served as judge of the Municipal Circuit Court in Carmen, Davao del Norte from 1989 to 1995 and as RTC 11 judge from 1995 to the present.

“I used to teach political law at the Ateneo de Davao College of Law but it took too much of my time,” he said.

One thing not widely known, and which would be interesting to most people, is the fact that the honorable judge is a bachelor.

I told him this is one thing he has in common with Ateneo de Davao Law School Dean Hildegardo Iñigo and Epifanio Estrelado. Aside from being brilliant, that is.

“Don’t place me in their level – they are brilliant and Law is their life,” he said. “I take my hat off to Iñigo.”

Ibarreta, who lives with his 90-year-old mother, said being single is “not a choice that I made; I just could not find somebody who will suit me.”

“I am just an ordinary person who plans to get married if the right girl comes along.” Is their educational attainment coupled with being idealistic that’s keeping these guys from getting hitched?

“Oh, I can’t speak for them,” he said, “but I am not very idealistic. I just want someone who can understand me and whom I can understand. Whether or not you have knowledge of what life is about does not depend on your educational attainment.”

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of being single, I asked him. “Well, you don’t have somebody to share your problems with but on the other hand, he said, there are also no obligations and responsibilities.

Ibarreta said he is not really strict in his court room in the strictest sense of the word. Outside the court is another matter, though.

“I do not begrudge people who approach me outside the court to explain their cases – they do not know what’s proper,” he said. However, he said, “diha ko malagot kung mga abugado na ang moduol kay kahibalo man na sila.”

But it does not matter if they approach me or not, he said, because the overriding consideration for me are the evidences; for as long the parties submit their evidences then those are the bases of my decision.”

But it is not easy being a judge for this man considering that each case he decides ultimately gets into his system. “I put my heart and soul into every case; it’s the least I can do.”

“You can’t and don’t play around with this kind of job; a lot of lives depend on it,” he added.

And how does he keep himself sane from all the hustle and bustle of life in the justice system? Watching television and going to the farm, he said.

The case may not yet be over for the Robillo family despite the RTC promulgation as the accused has the right to elevate the case to a higher court.

For his part, Ibarreta considers Friday’s promulgation as just another day in the life of a judge, moving on to the other cases which need to be resolved as soon as possible if justice is to be served.

From Weekend Magazine