Take leave, doc advises Badoy

Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Anacleto Badoy Jr. has been advised by his doctor to take a leave of absence on account of his health, but the magistrate appears to have no plans of slowing down.

Badoy’s daughter Christine, who works as his chief of staff at the anti-graft court, confirmed that her father was taken to a hospital last week following a severe attack of asthma.

"But he has yet to tell me whether he will take a breather from his work here at the Sandiganbayan," Christine said.

Badoy, who is trying the historic plunder case against ousted President Joseph Estrada, figured in an acrimonious word war with his immediate superior, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena.

Christine said her father intends to continue hearing the plunder case next week and resolve some motions filed by Estrada’s lawyers.

"It is not a life-threatening condition, but he really needs some rest," she said, adding that her father has not gone on vacation for the past two years.

She recalled that the last time Badoy took a leave was in 1999 when he went on a pilgrimage to the Vatican.

Badoy has accused Garchitorena of pressuring him to quit as chairman of the Sandiganbayan’s third division which is handling the plunder case.

Garchitorena belied the accusation, saying two members of the third division were the ones who wanted Badoy to step down for alleged tardiness and other administrative shortcomings.

Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. on Monday tried to patch up differences between the feuding magistrates, and gave them 48 hours to formally file their respective administrative charges.

But upon the prodding of their colleagues who arranged a conciliation meeting the other day, Garchitorena and Badoy have decided not to file any charges against each other.

"This is just the start of our efforts to patch things up between them," said Justice Narciso Nario Jr., chairman of the Sandiganbayan fourth division.

Among the pending motions filed at Badoy’s sala was a petition asking the court to suspend the plunder trial until the Supreme Court has resolve the Garchitorena-Badoy quarrel.

"Now it is not only the Estradas who will be on trial, but two Honorable Chairmen in the Sandiganbayan, and the entire system itself," Estrada’s lawyers stated in their petition.

"We trust that the Supreme Court will expedite the resolution of the matter as the legitimacy, credibility, acceptability and integrity of the proceedings in the First and Third Divisions cannot be affected," the defense lawyers stressed.

Garchitorena chairs the first division which hearings the perjury case against Estrada. The charge stemmed from allegations that the accused falsified his statement of assets and liabilities for 1999 by declaring his net assets at P35 million, but prosecution lawyers insisted he has billions of pesos stashed in secret bank accounts.

The defense lawyers have also asked the court to allow their client to leave for the United States to seek medical attention, as well as for permission to excuse the jailed former president and his son Jinggoy from the hearings.

Badoy said he will rule on the petitions next week. "We may even issue a resolution as early as Monday," he said.

Meanwhile, government prosecutors were unfazed by the defense panel’s attempts to weaken the testimony of former Social Security System (SSS) chairman Carlos Arellano who has claimed he was pressured by Estrada to buy huge stocks of the real estate listed firm Belle Resources using SSS funds.

The same pressure was allegedly applied on former Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president and general manager Federico Pascual.

The prosecution claimed the disgraced president pocketed P189.7 million in commissions from the transactions.

"We’re not worried at all," said Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño.

Defense lawyers sought to destroy Arellano’s testimony by making him admit he issued two affidavits wherein he stated that he bought Belle shares with SSS funds without pressure from Estrada.

State Prosecutor Dennis Villaignacio said Arellano’s testimony would be substantiated by former Belle vice president Willie Ocier who the prosecution will also call to the witness stand.

Ocier is expected to testify that Belle issued a check to Estrada representing payment of his commissions.

Presented as a prosecution witness, Arellano also told the court that he sought the help of the justice department for fear that he and Pascual might be implicated in the Belle scandal.

Arellano said Pascual told him about a report saying they could be held liable because Estrada earned commissions from the purchases they made of Belle stocks.

The transactions were allegedly brokered by Jaime Dichaves, an alleged Estrada crony and member of the Belle board of directors.

Defense lawyers Jose Flaminiano and former Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas asked the court to order that Arellano’s testimony be stricken off the record on the ground that it was "double hearsay."

Zuño and Villaignacio argued, however, that it would be retained as an exception to the hearsay rule being a part of a narration of facts.

They vowed to present evidence corroborating Arellano’s statements.

On Flaminiano’s questioning, Arellano admitted that he has issued an affidavit to the Office of the Ombudsman where he and the SSS commissioners maintained that the Belle share purchases were legal.

Arellano and his colleagues at the SSS were charged with graft in connection with the transactions.

Flaminiano wanted to establish that another affidavit issued by Arellano to the justice department did not mention that purchase of the Belle shares were legal.

Arellano clarified, however, that while he admitted the SSS transactions with Belle during his watch were "valid investments," another purchase made on Oct. 21, 1999 "was not ordinary since there was a call" from Estrada.

Arellano has also testified that Estrada called him up three times in October 1999 ordering him to buy Belle shares in large volumes using SSS money.