Government prosecutors have asked a Quezon City judge to inhibit himself from presiding over the rebellion case against key members of the Ampatuan clan for his alleged partiality towards defense lawyers.

The motion for inhibition was filed last Friday by Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyers headed by State Prosecutor Lamberto Fabros and forced Judge Vivencio Baclig, of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 77, to cancel Monday's supposed continuation of the grilling of Lieutenant General Raymundo Ferrer on the witness stand.

The details cited by the prosecution were not discussed in Monday's proceedings in Camp Crame, instead, Baclig ordered the defense lawyers to submit a comment on the motion for inhibition on or before Friday.

Defense lawyers insisted on the continuation of the proceedings, saying the issue of the motion for inhibition is not part of the agenda in yesterday's hearing which was supposed to tackle only on the judicial determination of the probable cause on the rebellion case and motion to defer the transfer of the Ampatuans from Mindanao to a Metro Manila detention facility.