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By Jomar Canlas, Reporter
THE Office of the Ombudsman is
ready to conduct a lifestyle check on the members of the judiciary,
but it needs authority from the Supreme Court to reopen their
Statements of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth.
Ombudsman Maria Merceditas
Navarro-Gutierrez acknowledged Wednesday that her office has been
receiving numerous complaints against members of the judiciary.
The judiciary has come under a
cloud after Court of Appeals Associate Justice Elvi John Asuncion
was dismissed for gross ignorance, four elections lawyers questioned
the rulings of regional trial courts regarding election cases and
suspicions surfaced that temporary restraining orders were up “for
sale” in the appellate court.
Gutierrez told The Manila Times
her office has no authority over justices and judges, because it is
clear under the Constitution that they are under the jurisdiction of
the Supreme Court.
“It is true that we are
receiving numerous complaints against several members of the
judiciary. But we have no disciplinary authority over them unless we
are deputized by the Supreme Court,” she said.
A lifestyle check could be done
only after a judge or a justice leaves the judiciary, Gutierrez
said.
“But we have no access over the
Statements of Assets and Liabilities,” she said.
It was learned that several
corruption and administrative offenses were filed before the
Ombudsman, but the Ombudsman endorsed them to the Office of the
Court Administrator, the Court’s investigating arm.
The SALN of the members of the
judiciary are kept in the vault of the Clerk of Court. No one has
access to the documents unless authorized by the Supreme Court.
CA Presiding Justice Ruben Reyes
said the sacking of Asuncion would be an eye-opener and a lesson for
everybody in the judiciary.
“It will be a wake-up call for
all of us,” Reyes said.
He has ordered a reorganization
in the CA which takes effect on Monday.
The justices more junior than
Asuncion will move a step higher in the hierarchy. Asuncion will
leave his post as the court’s 10th Division chairman.
Chief Justice Reynato Puno and
Reyes said they are in favor of making public their SALN to unmask
their “hoodlums in robes.”
In a resolution in 1992, the
Supreme Court en banc rejected the disclosure of the SALN of the
members of the judiciary.
House leaders have urged the
Supreme Court to do a lifestyle check on judges and justices to week
out corrupt magistrates.
Representatives Douglas Cagas of
Davao del Sur and Edwin Uy of Isabela called for reforms in the
judicial system as a way to combat corruption.
--With Maricel V. Cruz
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