CA justice calls on public to still trust judiciary amid irregularity probe
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 08/07/2008 10:45 AM
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As the integrity of the Court of Appeals (CA) hangs in the balance amid a rift among its magistrates and allegations of irregularities, an appellate court justice on Thursday appealed to the public to continuously trust the judiciary.
Justice Apolinario Bruselas said that as the newest member of the 8th Division he was saddened that the division’s controversial ruling on the Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) management case had triggered questions about the credibility of the whole judiciary itself.
Bruselas said he hopes the investigation of retired Supreme Court (SC) justices on the controversies besetting the appellate court would clarify all the issues. He added that the ongoing investigation shows that the judiciary is serious in its efforts to get rid of corrupt justices among its ranks.
Bruselas arrived at the Supreme Court Training Center Thursday morning as the SC’s three-man panel of retired justices kicked off its hearing on the conflict within the CA.
The retired justices are investigating bribery allegations and counter-allegations between CA Justice Jose Sabio Jr. and businessman Francis de Borja and the propriety of actions of the justices involved in the MERALCO case.
The MERALCO case involved two warring shareholders of the power firm—the Lopez family and their allies, and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
The Lopez family filed a petition with the Court of Appeals questioning the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to intervene in the power utility’s contentious proxy validation held on May 27, 2008.
The Lopez-owned power distributor sought for the nullification of an SEC cease-and-desist order and the issuance of a temporary restraining order enjoining SEC to implement a show cause order against Anthony Rosete, corporate secretary of MERALCO.
The petition was raffled off to the CA 9th Division whose members composed of Justice Bienvenido Reyes, chairman, Justice Vicente Roxas, the ponente, and Justice Myrna Vidal. Since Reyes was on leave at that time, Justice Jose Sabio Jr. was designated acting chairman of the 9th Division.
The 9th Division issued a TRO and heard the oral arguments.
The case, however, was decided by the 8th Division after Roxas was transferred to that division following reorganization in the CA due to the retirement of some justices.
The CA's internal rules say that the MERALCO case should be handled by the new 8th division because the ponente, Roxas, was there.
Other members of the new 8th Division were Bruselas and Justice Bienvenido Reyes.
On July 24, the 8th Division junked the SEC cease-and-desist order. It also ruled that the SEC has no jurisdiction over the questioned proxy validation.
Following the CA decision, Sabio claimed that he was “unceremoniously” removed from the case. He also alleged that businessman Francis de Borja, who purportedly claimed as MERALCO’s emissary, attempted to offer him a P10-million bribe in exchange for withdrawing from the case.
MERALCO denied that it sent de Borja to act as its emissary in the case.
Unaware
In a chance interview with Bruselas Thursday, he maintained that he was unaware about the ongoing squabble among the justices with regard to the MERALCO case.
As far as he was concerned, Bruselas said he was only doing his job when, after careful study of the draft ruling, he signed the decision.
He added that he is looking forward to the SC investigation so that he can clear his name.
CA justices from 8th and 9th Division, Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez, Justice Martin Villarama, who was consulted by Sabio, and Justice Edgardo Cruz, head of CA Rules Committee, and de Borja were asked to appear before the panel.
During Thursday’s hearing, the three-man panel ordered the eight CA justices to submit their affidavits and supporting documents by 4 p.m. Thursday.
A radio dzMM report said Sabio, Vidal, Vasquez and Villarama are set to testify on Friday while de Borja will be called last. The report added that de Borja might be the only one bringing in a legal counsel.
The panel is given two weeks to submit its fact-finding report and recommendations and it would up to the SC justices to decide what to do with the results of the probe, high court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said. ABS-CBN News Channel, dzMM
