Justices suspect retired peer was behind SC leakage

by ARIES RUFO, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 01/12/2009 6:07 PM

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Supreme Court (SC) justices are inclined to believe that it was retired Justice Ruben Reyes who was the source of the leaked unofficial decision involving an election case--an incident that has compromised the integrity of its internal procedures.

At least, two sources with internal knowledge of the Court said magistrates are convinced, based on circumstantial evidence, that the leakage was Reyes’s
undoing. “He was the only person with the copy of that decision which was not promulgated because it lacked doctrinal value,” one of the sources said, reflecting the sentiment of the justices. The source, a retired justice, is closely following the case.

The second source said that with the absence of direct evidence, the Tribunal’s resolution will not name Reyes as the guilty party but would state that he compromised the integrity and confidentiality of SC procedures. “This would stigmatize him and no decent civic club would invite him. This is worse than slashing his retirement benefits.”

One of the sources said that since the decision was not promulgated, only Reyes had a copy of the document. As standard procedure, the Chief Justice and the Clerk of Court will only have a copy once the decision is ready for promulgation. “Reyes was supposed to hold on tightly to that document. The presumption is that there is no person other than him who had copy of that document,” the source said.

The other source said circumstantial evidence points to Reyes as the leak. “Who has the opportunity but the custodian? Who has the motive of leaking the document but the ponente who may have been slighted that his ponencia was not promulgated?”

Apart from the unpromulgated decision, a draft decision of Reyes was also leaked.

Liable

The sources are not sure how the justices would hold Reyes liable for the leak since he has already retired and the SC has no more jurisdiction on his person. Reyes hang his robe Jan 2.

One possible penalty is to slash his retirement benefits “if he has not yet gotten his full benefits,” one of the sources said. The source recalled the case of former Justice Fidel Purisima who was censured in connection with the 1999 bar examinations. Purisima was not allowed to hold a retirement program at the SC Court and his retirement benefit was slashed by 50 percent.

SC spokesman Midas Marquez, in an interview with DZMM Monday, said the panel investigating the leak could wrap its work this week. The panel has conducted two hearings already.

We learned that Reyes and his staff had testified in the close-door hearing. The panel is chaired by Justice Leonardo Quisumbing.

The probe involved the draft decision of Reyes on the petition of Olivia Paras to unseat Negros Oriental Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong. Paras and one Louis Biraogo had asked the SC to invalidate Limkaichong’s proclamation on the ground that she is not allegedly not a natural-born Filipino, a requirement for public office. Paras lost to Limkaichong in the 2007 district elections by over 7,000 votes.

In the draft decision, Reyes nullified the proclamation of Limkaichong, but nine out of the 14 justices concurred only "in the result" when the ruling was passed for signing. This means the justice agreed with the conclusion but not with the arguments Reyes had presented. This prompted Chief Justice Reynato Puno, in consultation with the en banc, to withhold the promulgation of the decision.

However, for some reason, Biraogo was able to get a copy of the draft decision and leaked the same to the media. Armed with the draft decision, Biraogo questioned Puno’s decision to withhold its promulgation and hinted that Puno may have undue interest in the case.