DOJ chief named to SC

MANILA, Philippines - With a unanimous endorsement from the Judicial and Bar Council, President Aquino has appointed Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa to the Supreme Court (SC).

Caguioa took his oath yesterday before Aquino, who handpicked him from a shortlist of five nominees submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) earlier this week.

He is the 174h associate justice of the high tribunal and the sixth appointed by President Aquino.

He takes the post vacated by the early retirement of Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr. last Jan. 16.

Caguioa, who got the unanimous approval of the seven members of JBC, is the President’s former chief legal counsel and classmate in elementary and college at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. confirmed the appointment late yesterday afternoon, saying Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. has transmitted the information to Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno. The appointment was dated Jan. 22.

Caguioa vowed independence from the appointing authority and said there is more he could bring to the table than being a classmate of the Chief Executive.

In an earlier interview, Caguioa said the President could not be held accountable for the Disbursement Acceleration Program.

Caguioa took up economics and later law at the Ateneo, where he was a classmate and close friend of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Henares, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, among many others.

A son of the late Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Eduardo Caguioa, he was a senior partner of the Caguioa and Gatmaytan law office. 

He joined SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan in 1986 and was a partner from 1994 until February 2007.

Caguioa went on leave for a year in 1987 to join his father, during which time he handled mostly appeal cases in the CA and the SC.

He was a professor at the colleges of law of Ateneo de Manila University and San Sebastian College, where he taught obligations and contracts, property, statutory construction and administrative law.

The position of the chief justice and justices of the SC are exempted from the midnight appointment ban per the high court’s 2010 ruling on the vacancy in the retirement of then chief justice Reynato Puno.

The five other appointees of President Aquino in the SC are Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Marvic Leonen and Francis Jardeleza.

Another classmate of Aquino, Justice Undersecretary Emmanuel Caparas whom Caguioa brought with him when he took over the Department of Justice following Leila de Lima’s resignation, would be taking over the top DOJ post, unimpeachable sources said.

Likewise, Aquino is expected to release anytime this month the list of six new Sandiganbayan justices who will fill the two new divisions Congress has created. The anti-graft court previously had five divisions.

This will bring to 21 the total number of magistrates in the special trial court for government officials facing corruption charges, since each division is composed of three justices – a chairman and two members.

The Sandiganbayan’s presiding justice is Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, who was appointed by Aquino following the retirement of her predecessor, Justice Francisco Villaruz.

Highly reliable sources say Aquino is likely to appoint Palace Undersecretaries Michael Frederick Musngi and Reynaldo Cruz, Zaldy Trespeses V who was endorsed by Senate President Franklin Drilon. Trespeses is a staff member of Sereno.

SC welcomes Caguioa appointment

The SC, meanwhile, welcomed the appointment of Caguioa.

In a statement, Sereno said the completion of the high court’s composition would be important for the resolution of several crucial cases related to the general elections in May.

“On behalf of the members of the court, I welcome Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa. I am happy that we are once again a complete Court as there is a lot of work to be done, which I expect Justice Caguioa to actively take part in,” the SC chief, who is chair of the JBC, stressed.

Caguioa is expected to sit as member of the high tribunal when it resumes oral arguments on the disqualification case against Sen. Grace Poe on Tuesday.  – Edu Punay