SC to IBP: Wait for recommendation of justices on CA mess

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court advised the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to just wait for the recommendation of the panel of retired SC justices who investigated alleged anomalies in the Court of Appeals.

The IBP, through a recent newspaper advertisement, had called for the resignation of the CA justices for the sake of delicadeza.

“Well, that (call for resignation) is addressed to the CA justices themselves. But due process should be given a chance, which means that no later than September 4, the panel will already submit its recommendation. You can be sure that shortly thereafter, the Court will be coming out with its decision on the report and recommendation,” said SC spokesman Midas Marquez.

Marquez said the panel’s recommendation and report will be submitted to Chief Justice Reynato Puno and will be taken up by the Court in an en banc session on Sept. 9.

“The report and recommendation will be submitted to the en banc right away on the next Tuesday. It will be taken up on September 9, the initial deliberation,” he said.

The panel is headed by retired Associate Justice Carolina Griño-Aquino and composed of Justices Flerida Ruth Romero and Romeo Callejo Sr.

The justices that were placed under investigation for alleged impropriety in handling the Manila Electric Co. corporate dispute case are Sixth Division chairperson Jose Sabio, Sixth Division member Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal, Eighth Division chair Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes, Eighth Division senior member Justice Vicente Roxas, Eighth Division junior member Justice Apolinario Bruselas and CA Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez.

“The IBP urgently calls on those CA members involved in the controversy to immediately and irrevocably submit their resignations out of delicadeza and out of ultimate concern to salvage what is left of the integrity of the Court as an important national institution. The resignation is a necessary sacrifice that needs to be made by those whose names have been dragged into the scandal,” the IBP said in its advertisement.

Signing the statement were IBP national president Feliciano Bautista, executive vice president Rogelio Vin-luan, and governors Abelardo Estrada (Northern Luzon), Ernesto Gonzales Jr. (Central Luzon), Marcial Magsino (Greater Manila), Bonifacio Barandon Jr. (Bicolandia), Evergisto Escalon (Eastern Visayas), Raymund Jorge Mercado (Western Visayas), Ramon Edison Batacan (Eastern Mindanao), and Carlos Valdez Jr. (Western Mindanao).

The IBP also said the ongoing inquiry by an investigating panel formed by the SC is only “reactionary.”

“The need to address corruption in the judiciary goes beyond the issue of the ongoing investigations, but it needs to start and end where the controversy all started. The honorable magistrates of the CA now have the opportunity to show the entire country that there are no sacred cows, so to speak. This is their chance to convince the nation that indeed corruption is a real and pressing problem and needs the collective effort of the Court to address and stamp out,” it said.