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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
An embattled appellate justice on
Thursday accused the chief of the government pension fund as the
brains behind his dismissal over a case involving the agency and the
country’s biggest power distributor.
Or so claimed former Associate
Justice Vicente Roxas of the Court of Appeals in naming Winston
Garcia, the president and general manager of the Government Service
Insurance System (GSIS), as the mastermind in his ouster from the
appellate court on Tuesday.
Roxas was sacked by a Supreme
Court panel for “multiple violations of the canons of Judicial
Conduct, dishonesty, undue interest and conduct prejudicial to the
best interest of the service.”
He was the ponente or author in a
decision in a case between the GSIS and the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco),
the Philippines’ largest utility.
Politics, Roxas said, was behind
his ouster and the operator was Garcia.
“I am deeply saddened by the
incident [dismissal], because, if this could happen to a justice
like me, it only proves that politicians are really influential and
they can bully a justice and strip him of his work,” he said
during an interview over radio station dzRH.
Roxas denied that there was
“undue haste” when he came up with his July 23 decision that
voided a cease-and-desist order issued by the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) prohibiting Meralco from using its proxy
votes in the election of the utility’s new officers on May 27.
The panel of three retired
justices of the Supreme Court concluded that Roxas rushed the
ruling.
But the former justice, during
the radio interview, maintained that he was just being efficient
when he released his decision and that the conclusion of the panel
was wrong.
He said he had even received a
commendation for promptly resolving cases pending before his
courtroom and for having a zero backlog of cases. Roxas did not say
from where the tribute came.
Roxas also denied allegations
that he had been influenced to rule in favor of Meralco in the case
between the utility and the government pension fund. He cited his 30
years in the judiciary, during which, he said, he never allowed
himself be swayed by anybody in coming up with a ruling.
Even a senator, Roxas added, is
mad at him until now after he turned down his attempt to influence
his decision on a certain case. He did not elaborate.
“I could assure the parties
that my decisions are fair, I personally do the research before
coming up with a decision,” he said.
Roxas suggested that the parties
determine whether he made a correct ruling in the Meralco-GSIS case
instead of muddling the issue by throwing accusations against him.
SC defends ruling
Reacting to Roxas’ statements,
Jose Midas Marquez, the spokesman for the Supreme Court, said
majority of the justices there had found that there indeed were
irregularities committed by Roxas in making the ruling.
That 12 out of the 13 justices of
the High Tribunal who reviewed the findings of the panel voted to
dismiss Roxas, the spokesman added, only proved that there were
sufficient bases to sack Roxas.
DOJ to carry on
The Department of Justice would
pick up where the Supreme Court left off.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez
also on Thursday announced the composition of a three-man team that
would conduct a “wide-ranging” investigation of an alleged bribe
attempt on Associate Justice Jose Sabio Jr., also of the appellate
court, by Cagayan de Oro City businessman Francis Roa de Borja.
Sabio was suspended by the
Supreme Court panel for two months without pay for simple misconduct
and conduct unbecoming a justice of the Court of Appeals also in
connection with the GSIS-Meralco case.
Gonzalez named the Justice
department’s investigators as Justice Undersecretary Ernesto
Pineda as head and Justice Undersecretary Fidel Exconde and Chief
State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno as members.
Documents related to the alleged
bribery attempt were formally turned over also on Thursday to
Gonzalez by the Supreme Court’s Clerk of Court, lawyer Ma. Luisa
Villarama, and spokesman Marquez.
“We will conduct an
investigation,” Gonzalez said. “We are just evaluating whether
we will hold an inquest or will proceed with the preliminary
investigation. But I think this [bribery attempt] is not inquestable.”
He explained that the High Court
decision of Tuesday did not necessarily result in the finding of
probable cause for purposes of filing a criminal case.
Gonzalez said Sabio and de Borja
would be the first to be summoned by the investigating team
panel and later Meralco officials, possibly even Manolo Lopez, the
president and chief executive officer of the utility, and other
parties to the case.
He added that the Pineda team
might also summon Roxas to shed light on the alleged bribery
attempt.
Sabio earlier said that de Borja,
a friend of his from way back, had tried to bribe him with P10
million in exchange for relinquishing the chairmanship of the then
Ninth Division of the appellate court where Sabio was then acting
chairman.
The division handled the
GSIS-Meralco and issued a restraining order prohibiting the
implementation of the cease-and-desist order.
De Borja, 67, who claimed to be a
close friend of Manolo Lopez, had denied Sabio’s allegations. He
also claimed that it was Sabio who told him that Sabio was offered
lots of money and a promotion to the Supreme Court if he would favor
the GSIS in the board-election case.
He said that when he
hypothetically asked Sabio how much it would take for him to resist
the government’s offer, the justice said, “P50 million.”
Referring to de Borja, Sabio said,
“He has absolutely twisted the facts to suit a wicked end.”
The Supreme Court panel, in its
decision of Tuesday, said de Borja was less credible than Sabio.
Gonzalez said the Justice
department would also be tapping the services of the National Bureau
of Investigation “because we may need the NBI [National
Bureau of Investigation] eventually to dig further on certain
matters.”
According to him, bribery
normally has no conduit and is known only between the bribe-giver
and bribe-taker, but, in the case at present, de Borja served as
conduit.
“De Borja is only a conduit,
the money is not his,” Gonzalez pointed out.
The Justice chief said that
attempted bribery is punishable by “prison mayor” or six years
and one day to 12 years’ imprisonment, while bribery is punishable
by life imprisonment.
Reforms in the judiciary
Supreme Court spokesman Marquez,
meanwhile, said eight senior members of the appellate court also on
Thursday met with Chief Justice Reynato Puno and discussed reforms
that would help restore the public’s trust and confidence in
the tarnished image of the judiciary.
He identified the eight justices
as Second Division Chairman Portia Alino-Hormachuelos, Justices
Martin Villarama, Edgardo Cruz, Lucas Bersamin, Rebecca de Guia-Salvador,
Mariano del Castillo, Magdangal de Leon and Josefina Guevarra-Salonga.
Marquez said that Puno welcomed
the proposed lifestyle check on members of the judiciary, saying
that it was “a good concept” except that such check could be
abused.
The vacancy in the Court of
Appeals resulting from Roxas’ dismissal was being contested as of
Thursday by three candidates—Quezon City Regional Trial Court
Judge Henri Jean Paul Inting, Pasig Regional Trial Court Judge Alex
Quiroz and former Rep. Danton Bueser of Laguna.
--With Jomar Canlas
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