The Supreme Court has decided Tuesday (April 22) to file serious administrative charges against retired Court of Appeals Associate Justice Isaias P. Dicdican in connection with the murder of lawyer in Cebu City on Nov. 23, 2020.

In an en banc session, the High Court ordered the former appellate court member to file within a non-extendible period of ten days his answer to the charge of gross misconduct filed against him.

Dicdican has been implicated in the shooting of lawyer Joey Luis B. Wee in front of the victim’s law office in Cebu City. Wee was with his wife when ambushed by two gunmen but was not harmed.

Aside from Dicdican, also implicated in the murder was a certain Riza, who was a former client of the victim. The two have been identified as the brains behind the killing.

“Acting on the memorandum of Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva dated March 24, 2025, the SC formally charged retired Court of Appeals Associate Justice Isaias P. Dicdican with gross misconduct for his alleged involvement in the murder of Atty. Joey Luis B. Wee, a case which has been endorsed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to the Cebu City Prosecution Office and/or the Office of the Prosecutor General,” the SC said in a summary of the Tuesday en banc proceedings.

Earlier, the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office filed murder charges before the Cebu Regional Trial Court against four men who were the direct participants in the murder of Wee. They were identified as John Raymond Suarez, Randy Palparan, Manuelito Camacho and a John Doe.

Those charged were still at-large when indicted.

Confessed gunman Fausto Edgar Peralta identified the four as among his accomplices.

A former military officer, Peralta said Suarez acted as the backup shooter while Palparan was the one who tailed the victim’s vehicle. Camacho was in charge of the gunman’s getaway vehicle.

Peralta also linked Col. Edwin Layese, former director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Western Visayas, as the man who contacted them and offered a six-figure reward for the murder.

It is believed that it was Peralta who also implicated Dicdican to the murder case.

The retired CA magistrate reportedly planned the attack on wee with Riza as his accomplice.

Riza reportedly holds a grudge against Wee and had wanted him dead.

If found guilty by the SC, Dicdican will be disbarred. His pension and other retirement benefits will be forfeited.