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By Jomar Canlas, Reporter
CHIEF Justice Reynato Puno is
waiting for the Ombudsman to give him the names of the 12 justices
of the Court of Appeals being suspected of fixing cases for a fee.
Puno said that aside from the 12
magistrates, many of the CA justices were now treading carefully for
fear of being fired.
The Supreme Court recently sacked
Associate Justice Elvi John Asuncion for gross ignorance of the law.
Interviewed by The Manila Times
last week during the induction of officers of the Capampangan in
Media Inc. where he gave the keynote address, the Chief Justice said
many of the appellate justices have suddenly become more diligent
and reserved.
The Times observed that this past
week, CA justices who had a habit of roaming around their building
and visiting fellow justices in their chambers were keeping to
themselves.
Ombudsman Merceditas
Navarro-Gutierrez has divulged that she is watching the 12 CA
justices who are the subject of numerous complaints sent to her
office by litigants and lawyers. The complainants allege that the
justices were exacting fees for issuing temporary restraining
orders.
Puno said Gutierrez has not
submitted her list to him.
He said he needs the list so the
Supreme Court could launch its own inquiry.
Puno refused to comment when
asked if another CA justice would soon be dismissed.
An unimpeachable source told The
Times several Supreme Court justices were also waiting to see the
Ombudsman’s list of the “Dirty Dozen.” The High Court justices
have also received complaints about corrupt CA justices and they
wanted to compare their list with that of the Ombudsman’s.
Puno, who called all the Court of
Appeals’ division chairmen to a meeting about corruption in their
ranks, told them he had been receiving complaints about corruption
among CA justices in Manila and in Cebu.
The Times has been able to get
the names in the Ombudsman’s watch list and some of them are the
very same ones who have been denounced as case-fixers to individual
Supreme Court justices.
Nine male justices and two female
justices, assigned in Manila, appear to be both on the Ombudsman and
SC justices’ lists.
Majority of these justices were
promoted to the CA from the lower courts.
The CA has 69 Justices, 51 of
whom are stationed in Manila.
“The Supreme Court, under Chief
Justice Puno Court is really serious about drastically cleaning up
and reforming the judiciary,” Jose Midas Marquez, the Court’s
public information chief, said.
Court of Appeals Presiding
Justice Ruben Reyes has urged the public to submit complaints
against his magistrates.
Reyes stressed he would not
tolerate wrongdoings in the Court. He said the dismissal of Asuncion
is a good “a lesson for everybody.”
Reyes said that reports of
corruption “must be made in a formal complaint, made under oath
and supported by evidence.”
Reyes said a corrupt justice
could only be caught through an entrapment operation or a proper
complaint backed by evidence and signed and sworn to by a litigant
or lawyer who witnessed the act of corruption.
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