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By Sammy Martin, Correspondent
A veteran lawmaker over the weekend urged a
controversial Batangas City Regional Trial Court judge to inhibit
herself from the rehabilitation case of Steel Corporation of the
Philippines (SCP) even as he noted that the Court of Appeals has
already stopped the judge from enforcing a management committee to
act on the complaints of the steel company.
Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla Jr.. said
Judge Maria Cecilia Austria of Branch 2 of the Batangas Regional
Trial Court should now seriously consider inhibiting from the
rehabilitation case even as an associate justice in the Court of
Appeals had already inhibited himself in response to a petition by
lawyers of SCP.
Padilla had earlier delivered a privilege speech
accusing Judge Austria of conspiring with two commercial banks to
take over SCP by ordering its rehabilitation and immediately
appointing a receiver in the person of lawyer Santiago Gabionza, who
in turn appointed a financial adviser.
“Its about time that Judge Austria seriously
considered inhibiting herself from further handling the SCP
rehabilitation case since it was her highly questionable decision
that started the controversy that forced SCP officials to file
strings of cases against her before the Ombudsman, the Court of
Appeals and Office of the Court Administrator,” Padilla said.
Padilla pointed out that CA Associate Justice
Sixto Marella Jr. has already inhibited himself from the SCP
petitions pending in his division to clear the air from perceptions
that his handling of the case tend to favor the creditor-banks which
filed the rehabilitation case.
In a memorandum to Justice Mario Guarina III,
chairman of the CA’s 16th Division dated March 7, Marella
granted the petition of SCP for him to inhibit from the
cases against respondent Judge Austria whose decision to place SCP
under rehabilitation is being contested by the steel company.
SCP filed the motion for voluntary inhibition
against Marella based on the belief that “there may have been
a deliberate attempt on the part of certain persons to direct all
cases regarding the rehabilitation of Steel Corp to the chambers of
Justice Marella.”
SCP’s motion was further fueled by Marella’s
denial of the company’s
application for temporary restraining order on December 10, 2007
which paved the way for the implementation of thE
highly-questionable rehabilitation plan as contained in the decision
by Judge Austria of the Batangas City RTC.
Earlier, Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas
Jr. granted a 60-day temporary restraining order that stopped
controversial Judge Austria from implementing her order allowing
creditors of SCP to take over the operations of the company through
a management committee.
Judge Austria, Banco de Oro-Equitable PCI Bank
and the court-appointed receiver Lawyer Santiago Gabionza were
ordered “to desist from pursuing the constitution of a
management committee and require to file within 10 days from notice
their comment to the petition” filed by SCP.
Padilla also questioned the timing of Judge
Austria ’s acquisition of two new cars which he discovered to have
been acquired sometime in May, 2007 saying that this was about the
time when the Batangas City judge was already mulling on handling
over the majority ownership and management control of SCP to its
creditor-bank, particularly Banco De Oro.
Padilla, who started the expose on the now
raging ZTE-NBN broadband deal controversy, was referring to her
acquisition of two brand-new luxury cars, a Toyota Camry with plate
number VEE 548 and a red and white-striped Mini Cooper with plate
number NMD 272.
Previously, SCP filed criminal and
administrative cases against Judge Austria at the Ombudsman
and the Office of the Court Administrator for alleged “bias,
incompetence and evident partiality” when she decided to place SCP
under rehabilitation, appointed an unqualified and conflicted
receiver, and mandated a baseless debt-to-equity conversion that
allowed the forcible transfer of the majority ownership and
management of SCP to the creditor banks.
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