SC itself should probe CA bribery case — senator

08/06/2008

A senator yesterday said the Supreme Court (SC) itself should look into the alleged bribery and case-grabbing scandal at the Court of Appeals (CA), not just a mere three-man panel that has been formed by the high court to investigate the issue.

Administration Sen. Joker Arroyo said the high tribunal should not delegate the task of investigating the allegations to former SC justices because “what happened is too heinous (as it involves) alleged bribery and case grabbing.”

“There is no substitute perhaps to the high court hearing it first hand. With all due respect, it would be preferable to assuage the pains and anxiety of the trial bar that the investigation of the Court of Appeals scandal be conducted by the Supreme Court itself, or by a committee of sitting justices, rather than delegating the

investigation to a panel of retired justices who in turn will submit their findings to the high court for review and determination, akin to a trial by commissioners,” he said.

Senator Arroyo was reacting to a move taken by the SC creating a panel composed of three retired magistrates to look into the allegations of bribery at the CA.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., however, said he trusts that the SC knows best how to handle the issue.

“If they (SC justices) think that this is the best way of handling it (CA bribery case), so be it. At least they created a panel and are not sweeping this under the rug,” he said.

Meanwhile, a month before CA Associate Justice Jose Sabio Jr. accused his fellow magistrate of usurping his function after he spurned an alleged offer of a P10-million bribe, a ruling by the justice in charge of the internal rules committee of the tribunal had decided that the division of Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes is the right court to decide the Meralco case.

In a two-page letter dated June 20 responding to a query on the proper division that will rule on the case, Associate Justice Edgardo Cruz said “the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) is not among the instances where the justices who participated in the case shall remain therein.”

Cruz is the chairman of the CA’s Standing Committee on Rules. The committee was tasked by the appellate court en banc on Thursday to interpret the internal rules following Sabio’s claim that the division headed by Reyes railroaded the promulgation of the Meralco case.

Cruz made the comment interpreting Sec. 1 (d) Rule 6 of the Internal Rules of the CA, or IRCA.

“Consequently, notwithstanding the issuance of the TRO, the case reverted to the regular chairman of the ninth division upon his return,” Cruz said in the letter.

The former members of the ninth division, including the Meralco decision’s author, Associate Justice Vicente Roxas, were consequently moved to the eighth division because of a reorganization within the appellate court.

When Reyes went on leave, Sabio was chosen acting chairman and thereafter issued a TRO against the SEC from implementing its directives against the power firm with regard to the disputed proxy votes for the Lopez family in an election for the composition of a new Meralco board last May 27.

Relatedly, a lawmaker has filed a resolution seeking a congressional inquiry into Sabio’s claims.

In filing House Resolution 705, Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. (6th District, Manila) asked the leadership of the House of Representatives to look into the scandal rocking the CA in connection with reported irregularities surrounding the latter’s decision on the battle for control of Meralco between the Lopezes and the GSIS.

Abante urged the House committees on energy and on justice to summon the concerned officials of Meralco and the appellate court justices to shed light on the issue.

“There is an urgent need for the people to know the whole truth about the matter as this involves the administration of justice and that there is also need to prevent the recurrence of a similar situation in the future,” he stated in the resolution.

“This is a very serious matter that should be looked into with dispatch as it affects the integrity of the second highest judicial tribunal of the land and that of its members, especially in the light of allegations of graft and corruption and/or questionable transactions involving high government officials,” he further said.

Angie M. Rosales, Benjamin B. Pulta and PNA

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