CA panel summons Sabio, De Borja

MANILA, Philippines – Expect tension to grip the Supreme Court (SC) today as the three-man panel of retired justices tasked to probe the alleged bribery at the Court of Appeals (CA) summons the protagonists in what could be an initial face-off in the controversial case.

Francis Roa de Borja, the businessman who was tagged as the alleged Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) emissary, and embattled CA Justice Jose Sabio, the one allegedly offered the bribe by De Borja, were summoned to appear and shed light on the case as the hearings commence.

Aside from De Borja and Sabio, the panel also summoned CA Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez and CA Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes (chairman, Eighth Division), Vicente Roxas (Eighth Division), Apolinario Bruselas Jr., (Eighth Division) Myrna Dimaranan Vidal (Sixth Division), Martin Villarama (chairman, Third Division) and Edgardo Cruz (chairman, Seventh Division and head of the CA’s Internal Rules Committee).

The panel composed of retired Supreme Court justices Carolina Griño-Aquino, Romeo Callejo and Flerida Ruth Romero will hold the hearing at 9 a.m. today at the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) Training Center inside the Supreme Court complex.

According to Marquez, the hearings will be similar to an oral argument and will be open to the media and the public. Television cameras, however, will not be allowed during the proceedings.

Last July 31, after conducting a rare en banc session, the CA ordered the feuding justices in the Meralco case to submit to the investigation of the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).

This, after a letter to CA Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez by Justice Sabio, acting chair of the dissolved Special Ninth Division that had handled the case and one of the justices involved in the controversy, was made public.

In a six-page letter dated July 26, Sabio alleged that a businessman brokering for one of the parties had offered him P10 million to inhibit from the case.

According to Sabio, he refused the bribe offer, as a “matter of principle.”

The Meralco board election triggered a feud between the group headed by the Lopez family and minority shareholder Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

“In the past few days, the Court of Appeals has been the subject of comments in the print and broadcast media involving the actuations of some of its members relative to the Meralco vs. GSIS case. Insinuations and accusations have been made to the prejudice of the institution,” the CA said in a press statement.

Aside from the order for the involved justices to appear before the OCA, the CA also left the matter concerning the validity of the decision to the parties to take whatever steps they may deem appropriate in the usual course of procedure.

The CA also appealed to everyone to “respect the sub judice nature of the case and to refrain from public discussion of the merits of the case.”

Earlier, Justice Vicente Roxas, the ponente or writer of the decision, lashed out at Justices Sabio and Myrna Vidal for “clinging on” to the Meralco case despite the fact that the Eighth Division had already taken over the case from the disbanded Special Ninth Division where they were previously together.

The Special Ninth Division was disbanded following the July 4 reorganization of the CA divisions upon the retirement of Justice Rodrigo Cosico.

“After the July 4, 2008, reorganization, there was no basis for Justices Sabio and Vidal of the disbanded Special Ninth Division to break this IRCA rule and the tradition of transparency by clinging on to the Meralco case,” Roxas said.

He also said that Sabio was a mere substitute in the disbanded Special Ninth Division and was expected to serve only for the duration of the temporary leave of the division’s regular chairman, Justice Reyes.

“Justice Sabio should have relinquished when regular chairman Justice Reyes reported back to work,” Roxas said.

He added that when Reyes reported back to work as chairman on June 16, 2008, Sabio allegedly refused to relinquish chairmanship and even presided over the June 23, 2008 oral arguments.

Roxas said Reyes did not want to make a scene at the hearing and could only get as far as having his nameplate displayed on the table.

The CA’s Committee on Rules chaired by Associate Justice Edgardo Cruz ruled that Sabio should not have insisted on being acting chair of the Special Ninth Division, which handled the Meralco case, as Reyes had already returned from leave.