Garchitorena: I won’t resign

Brushing aside a gag order by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena said yesterday he would not step down as suggested by one of his associate justices.

"I am not going to resign. If I were to resign for all the things that people say against me, I could have resigned many times over. It is not the first time that the world is against me," Garchitorena told reporters in Davao City.

Davide on Tuesday enjoined Garchitorena and Justice Anacleto Badoy Jr. to refrain from issuing statements on their row over the handling of the corruption cases against Estrada, including the capital offense of plunder which is non-bailable and punishable by death.

Garchitorena said he remained unperturbed by harsh criticisms hurled against him. "My bad reputation has been established a long time ago. It is just that now it is getting space (in the newspapers)," he said.

"Whether all these things deserve somebody’s resignation is not for me to judge. It is for the chief justice and those who have authority over us to tell us what we should do," Garchitorena added.

Badoy said Garchitorena should quit the Sandiganbayan for telling lies before the public.

In a letter to Davide, Garchitorena allegedly claimed Badoy was remiss in his job as chairman of the anti-graft court’s third division handling the plunder case.

Badoy said Garchitorena’s allegations were false, adding he even stayed in his chambers late into the night to cope with the heavy workload arising from the plunder trial and other cases pending in his office.

Meanwhile, the Davide-sponsored dialogue between Garchitorena and Badoy scheduled earlier on Saturday was reset to Monday upon the request of Garchitorena himself.

"I could not make it on Saturday lunch. I still have to wrap up things here in Davao City and the flight would still be at 2 p.m. Saturday," Garchitorena said.

Asked what would probably happen at the meeting, Garchitorena said the Chief Justice would likely resolve his quarrel with Badoy.

"My expectation is that things will be done right in the end, that it will be resolved satisfactorily. I am one of the subjects of the resolution. I will not be able to tell you what the resolution would probably be," he said.

Garchitorena also gave assurance that despite his row with Badoy, the Sandiganbayan continues to function normally.

"The cases before the Sandiganbayan have been proceeding as calendared and so far, there has been no breakdown or any reports of demoralization among the personnel," Garchitorena said.

In another development, members of the militant Plunder Watch group assailed Estrada and his lawyers for delaying the trial.

The group also called on Congress to resolve the impeachment charges against Ombudsman Aniano Desierto as soon as possible to prevent further delays in the trial of the plunder case.

"Even before the tiff between Garchitorena and Badoy, it has been clear as the morning sun that the Estrada camp purposely worked to portray the head of the third division as a biased and incompetent judge through deceitful statements to the public, asking Badoy to (inhibit) himself from the trial and flooding his court with endless motions," a leader of the group said.

On the other hand, the Union of the Masses for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ) which described itself as a coalition of organizations of poor and marginalized sectors, expressed support for Garchitorena and "his courageous stance to uphold the truth and the rule of law."

"We challenge Justice Garchitorena not to waver in his stand and not be swayed by the EDSA Dos mob and continue to light the fire of hope for our judicial system," the UMDJ said in a statement. — With Sandy Araneta