A Manila judge, who handled and ruled on sensitive cases including the abolition of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), escaped an assassination attempt Wednesday by sheer luck.

Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. of the Manila Regional Trial Court, Branch 26, survived the attack when the bomb planted in his vehicle exploded at 6 a.m. Wednesday before he and his daughter could board it.

It was learned that Pampilo, known to be an early bird, used to leave home between 5:30 and 6 a.m.

But as fate would have it, Pampilo was late to leave home Wednesday.

His being late for the first time turned out to be his saving grace as it kept him away from harm’s way.

The bomb exploded in front of their home at Palmera 3 Subdivision in Taytay, Rizal, while Pampilo was still inside their house, waiting for daughter Cindy Marie, a second year student of De La Salle University, to get dressed after rousing late from sleep.

“We usually leave the house at around those times. But I think we were lucky that we were running late today (Wednesday). It has been a saving grace for us,” the Manila Judge told the Manila Bulletin in a telephone interview.

Initial report from the Taytay Rizal Police Station showed that Pampilo’s Honda CRV, with licensed plate 16*NCR 26, blew up in front of their home on Terrece Drive.

At least 5 suspicious-looking men, who were seen prowling near the house of the Manila judge and around the subdivision the night before the attack, are now the subject of a manhunt and investigation of authorities.

Citing reports of policemen, Pampilo said that bomb experts from the Taytay Police Station found at least five to six, improvised, timed explosives under the car’s step board and a cellular phone was used as the triggering device.

“At least three were found in the passenger and driver seats as well as near the gas fuel tank of the vehicle,” according to the Manila Judge.

Pampilo, who revealed that he has been receiving death threats since 2008, had handled most sensitive cases in the Manila RTC.

The most recent, and if not the most controversial, ruling he gave out was when he ordered the abolition of PASG last March 9, calling the agency “illegal and unconstitutional.”

Other sensitive cases he had handled were the extra-judicial killings filed against Gen. Jovito Palparan, the case of Sulpicio Lines, and First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, and the denial of the plea of workers to stop the modernization of North Harbor, among others.

“The threats have always been there. Some would put a note which says, “Papatayin kita (I will kill you)” at the windshield of my vehicle. I didn't take it seriously because nothing happened to me until now,” he explained.

“Just like journalists, we also got one foot forward to the grave. Hazards such as what happened earlier is part of my job as a judge,” he said.

When asked if the recent explosion had something to do with his controversial decision on PASG, the Manila judge answered that “there is a possibility that the incident is connected with it.”

“I am not saying that I am 100 percent sure it (PASG order) has something to do with the incident but there is a possibility,” he said.

“With all the death threats I got from all the sensitive cases I am handling, I don't know which is which,” the Manila Judge added.

Pampilo later announced that he will be on leave from work for an indefinite period of time.

“I will not say as to how long my leave will be to avoid the 'enemy' from knowing my next move,” he said.

With this development, the Supreme Court (SC) reiterated its appeal to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to exempt judges from the election gun ban in the wake of the slay attempts on two members of the judiciary.

Court Administrator and SC Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the attacks on Pampilo and Judge Leo Principe of Basilan have come to the fore the need for Comelec to allow magistrates to carry firearms during the election period.

“We would like to reiterate our appeal for Comelec, particularly Chairman Jose Melo, who, himself was a former associate justice of the Supreme Court and Commissioner Lucenito Tagle, a former associate justice of the Court of Appeals, to review their policy not to grant a gun ban exemption to our judges,” Marquez told reporters covering the summer session of the High Court in the nation’s summer capital.

The election gun ban started last January 10 and will end on June 9.

Aside from Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel, also exempted from the gun ban are members of Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs), Presidential Security Group, Bureau of Fire Protection, security forces of the Optical Media Board, and security personnel of accredited foreign diplomatic corps.

A day before the slay try on Pampilo, security forces recovered a bomb in front of the residence of Judge Principe. (With reports from Edmer F. Panesa and Madelynne Dominguez)