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By William B. Depasupil Reporter
Wanted: Justice for the Court of
Appeals. If interested, send resumés to the Judicial and Bar
Council (JBC).
The
successful candidate will replace Associate Justice Vicente Roxas,
who has been sacked from the appellate court for a raft of
improprieties in a case involving the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)
and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
Roxas could also face a
disbarment case, according to the spokesman for the Supreme Court.
Lawyer Jose Midas Marquez said
Wednesday that anybody could call for Roxas’ disbarment based on
the decision of the High Court that ordered his dismissal from the
service on Tuesday over the highly controversial case between the
country’s biggest power distributor and the government pension
fund.
“The decision of the Supreme
Court could be used against him [Roxas],” Marquez added.
He said, though, that Roxas and
Associate Justice Jose Sabio Jr., who was ordered suspended for two
months also over the same contentious case, could still file a
motion for reconsideration before the High Tribunal within 15 days.
Marquez added that “pending
their motions for reconsideration, they will have to start serving
the penalties imposed on them.” He explained that decisions in
administrative cases are “immediately executory,” even as the
accused still have the right to appeal.
Applicants welcome
According to the spokesman for
the Supreme Court, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) is now
accepting applications for the post to be vacated by Roxas.
“Once the JBC completes its
‘shortlist,’ [the names there] will be forwarded to Malacañang.
The President [Gloria Arroyo] will pick from the list Roxas’
successor,” Marquez said.
Roxas’ sacking by a panel of
three retired justices of the Supreme Court “will cause some
changes in the memberships of various divisions in the Court of
Appeals,” he told reporters.
Marquez pointed out, though, that
the dismissal of Roxas and the suspension of Sabio for two months
without pay have no direct bearing on the day-to-day operations of
the Court of Appeals.
The appellate court has 23
divisions composed of three justices, with the most senior among the
three serving as the division chairman.
The Court of Appeals will decide
on who will take over pending cases that will be left by Roxas and
Sabio.
The pending cases under the two
justices, the Supreme Court spokesman said, would be re-raffled to
the divisions of the appellate court.
The High Tribunal, in a 58-page
per curiam decision, found Roxas guilty of “multiple violations of
the canons of Judicial Conduct, dishonesty, undue interest and
conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.”
Sabio was found guilty of simple
misconduct and conduct unbecoming a justice of the Court of Appeals.
He was also sternly warned that a repetition of the same or similar
acts would warrant a more severe penalty.
Also sanctioned by the Supreme
Court were appellate court Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez Jr. and
Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes and Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal.
Vasquez and Reyes were
reprimanded and Vidal was admonished. They also were sternly warned
that a repetition of the same or similar acts would warrant a more
severe penalty.
Wake-up call
Marquez said the decision on the
five appellate justices was a “wake-up call for all magistrates
from the CA [Court of Appeals], the lower courts and the trial
courts that the [High Tribunal] will not take the cases for
granted.”
The voluntary resignations of the
five justices were demanded also on Wednesday by the Integrated Bar
of the Philippines, through its national president, Feliciano
Bautista. He cited need to “maintain the integrity” of the
appellate court.
Marquez said that the Supreme
Court would intensify its “integrity development review” as part
of the effort to shield members of the judiciary from being
influenced in their decisions by “outside sources.”
“The SC [Supreme Court] is now
working on steps on how to make it difficult or even impossible for
outsiders to [influence] members of the judiciary,” he added.
Roxas penned the controversial
July 23 decision stating that the Securities and Exchange Commission
lacked jurisdiction to validate the proxy votes counted in favor of
the Lopez bloc during the Meralco stockholders’ meeting on May 27.
The GSIS had sought a temporary
restraining order to stop the validation. Justice Sabio was then the
chairman of the Special Ninth Division that issued the restraining
order on May 30.
Roxas’ benefits, except accrued
leave credits if any, were forfeited by the investigating panel
composed of ex-Supreme Court Justices Carolina Griño-Aquino,
Flerida Ruth Romero and Romeo Callejo Sr. The forfeiture prejudiced
Roxas’ reemployment in any branch or service of the government
including government-owned and controlled corporations.
Sabio, who had exposed an
alleged P10-million bribe offer on him to inhibit from the
Meralco-GSIS case, was found guilty of simple misconduct and conduct
unbecoming a justice of the Court of Appeals.
He admitted during the panel
hearings that his brother, Chairman Camilo Sabio of the Presidential
Commission on Good Government (PCGG), had called him twice to
inquire into the position on the GSIS case, which has about
30-percent stake in Meralco.
Chairman Sabio
The Supreme Court panel also
recommended that businessman Francis de Borja, who allegedly had
tried to bribe Sabio, undergo preliminary investigation by the
Department of Justice since he is a private individual.
It also referred the case of
Chairman Sabio to the Bar Confidante, since he is a lawyer.
Chairman Sabio can stay put at
the commission, until his disbarment being pushed before the Supreme
Court is acted upon, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said also on
Wednesday.
“The presumption of innocence
still holds [in the case of] Chairman Sabio, he can continue with
his job for now,” Gonzalez added, reminding Sabio that the PCGG is
under the Justice department.
A complaint had been filed
against Chairman Sabio by lawyer Fernando Perito before the High
Court’s Office of the Bar Confidante. Perito invoked the Code of
Professional Responsibility that requires lawyers to refrain from
influencing the courts, cultivating familiarity with judges or
inviting interference by another branch of government in the normal
course of judicial proceedings.
It asked that Sabio be
investigated and be permanently barred from the legal profession if
he is found liable for unethical conduct.
Palace will wait
Malacañang said it would wait
for the final decision of the Supreme Court before it takes action
against the commission chairman.
“Be assured that when we get
the ruling officially, and when it becomes final and executory, we
will make the appropriate steps,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza
said during a news conference also on Wednesday.
The decision of the Supreme Court
investigating panel was “praiseworthy,” according to Caloocan
Bishop Deogracias Iñguez.
“Justice is served to persons
who should dispense justice. I feel that it was a good expression of
[upholding the] integrity of the courts],” Iñguez said in a text
message.
Gonzalez called the decision
“excellent.” If he were in Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s shoes,
he said, he would have the entire Court of Appeals investigated to
purge it of misfits.
He disclosed that he would form a
special panel to investigate and determine if de Borja is liable to
be charged for attempting to corrupt a public official. The panel,
Gonzalez said, would be composed of two undersecretaries and a chief
state prosecutor.
--Francis Earl A. Cueto, Anthony Vargas, Angelo S. Samonte And
Sharalyn Paguio
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