‘Garchi’ retires from bench

Without any hitches, the Supreme Court approved yesterday the request of relieved Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena for early retirement.

Garchitorena jumped the gun on the high tribunal by availing himself of early retirement effective Sept. 27, three days ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline imposed on him by the Supreme Court to dispose of long pending cases, including those involving the Marcoses.

A source said the 64-year-old Garchitorena was forced to retire so the Supreme Court would no longer be compelled to fire him for failing to comply with the deadline.

Garchitorena said in a letter to Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. that he opted for optional retirement to spare the judiciary from further "embarrassment." The mandatory retirement age for justices and judges is 70.

"To keep the issue any longer in the public view will not be beneficial to the judiciary. I respectfully submit that the situation is not salutary to the judiciary as a whole and that it would be best to remove the problem altogether, namely myself," he said in his letter. — With Rodel Clapano