Tan.

jr v Gallardo
Facts: Tan was convicted of frustrated murder and double murder of the brother and uncle of mayor Larazabal.
Petitioner seeks to annul the judgment of judge Gallardos order in denying petitioners motion for respondent
judge to disqualify or inhibit himself from acting and hearing upon their motion for new trial, alleging bias and
manifest impartiality on the part of the judge. Petitioners assert that Judge kept improper contact with the
Larazabals; on occasion, received bottles of wine through the stenographers and after an alleged meeting with
mayor Larazabal, judge amended his already prepared decision by changing the penalty from life sentence to
death.
Issue: WON judge order may be annulled.
Held: SC grants the petition and demands the case back to the trial court in order that another judge may hear
anew motion for new trial.
A judge should strive to be at all times "wholly free, disinterested, impartial and independent. Elementary due
process requires a hearing before an impartial and disinterested tribunal. A judge has both the duty of rendering a
just decision and the duty, of doing it in a manner completely free from suspicion as to its fairness and as to his
integrity. Thus, it has always been stressed that judges should not only be impartial but should also appear
impartial. For "impartiality is not a technical conception, It is a state of mind" and, consequently, the "appearance
of impartiality is an essential manifestation of its reality. It must be obvious, therefore, that while judges should
possess proficiency in law in order that they can competently construe and enforce the law, it is more important
that they should act and behave in such a manner that the parties before them should have confidence in their
impartiality.