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The chief magistrate of the Court of Appeals on
Tuesday denied that appellate court judges are “selling”
temporary restraining orders to public officials facing graft cases.
Presiding Judge Ruben Reyes
challenged the public to file complaints against appellate court
judges who allegedly sold TROs.
“In our law you need a verified
complaint but even though the accusation is not yet verified if I
see that it is credible I will take action. I will make the
necessary referral to the Supreme Court because only the higher
court has the authority to punish erring justices and court
employees,” Reyes told DZMM radio.
In its banner story on Tuesday,
The Manila Times quoted a CA justice, saying that the Ombudsman’s
rulings on preventive suspensions and dismissals have turned into
one of the main sources of corruption and TROs “for sale.”
The magistrate, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said the minimum price for a TRO is P1
million. The price rises depending on the influence of the
personalities involved, the report added.
The Times’ source said the
price gets steeper for a package deal that includes a TRO,
injunction, decision and resolution in a motion for reconsideration.
Reyes said the court has always
been accused of selling TROs to petitioners. He added, however, that
not a single complaint has been filed against a CA judge.
“If we issue a TRO, we’re
accused of being paid by the petitioner. If we don’t issue it,
we’re accused of being paid by the other party. We can’t please
everybody,” he said.
He added that the large number of
TROs issued by the court stems from the large number of suspension
orders handed down by the Office of the Ombudsman against local
officials in the past few months.
“[These officials] go to the
Court of Appeals because they see that we act quickly on their
cases,” he said.
Chief Justice Reynato Puno has
summoned the 17 chairpersons of the appellate court stationed in
Manila to discuss the alleged notoriety of some CA justices and
employees.
Reyes has tapped the CA Committee
on Ethics to accept complaints against justices and employees who
are reportedly engaged in corrupt practices.
--With ABS-CBN Interactive
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