MANILA, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has opposed the application of Court Administrator Midas Marquez for the position of Supreme Court associate justice.
This was made public Wednesday during Marquez’s interview with the Judicial and Bar Council, which is screening the nominees for the position vacated by former Justice Samuel Martires, who has been appointed as ombudsman.
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The president’s daughter earlier accused an SC aspirant of trying to win her favor by supposedly working for the withdrawal of the disbarment case filed by Sheriffs Confederation of the Philippines against her.
The disbarment case against Duterte-Carpio stemmed from the incident when she punched Davao City Sheriff Abe Andres during a shanty demolition operation in July 2011.
She said her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, “should think twice in appointing this individual to be a justice—more so a chief justice.”
The incident involves a certain Gemma Sotto, who is supposedly a friend of Marquez. He hired her son as a contractual legal clerk at the Office of the Court Administrator.
JBC member Milagros Fernan-Cayosa asked the court administrator: “Did you know that Mrs. Sotto was going to Davao purportedly for your benefit in order to approach the mayor?”
In response, Marquez claimed he had no idea what Sotto was going to do but said there were “well-meaning friends or even acquaintances” who had offered help.
“I just say thank you without me knowing what they’re really going to do and to what extent they will be doing whatever because I am so rest assured with my qualifications, credentials, track record and experience in the court,” he said.
He landed on headlines when he served as one of the resource speakers during the impeachment proceeding against former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno at the House of Representatives.
The ousted chief justice accused Marquez of orchestrating rallies against her.
Meeting with sheriffs
Marquez was prompted to explain Duterte-Carpio’s opposition to his application further when asked in a follow up-question by retired judge Toribio Ilao.
He denied telling the sheriffs to withdraw the disbarment case against Duterte-Carpio, saying the Sheriffs Confederation of the Philippines had already decided to drop the complaint in a general assembly sometime in April.
Marquez narrated that the sheriffs went to the sheriff involved in the punching incident who said it was about time to put a closure to the issue.
“The allegation that I talked to the complainants, the witnesses, I did something, I maneuvered, manipulated, actually, your Honor, with all due respect, is not accurate,” the long-time high court official said.
He, however, confirmed that he met with the sheriffs earlier this month.
“Fast forward to September 2018, that was the only time I saw them for this particular issue and they told me: I did not tell them to withdraw the case because they had that decision four to six months ago. They were just asking me if they could do it and so I said it’s up to you,” Marquez said.
World Bank project
Marquez also responded to an administrative complaint filed against him over the alleged anomalous implementation of the $21.9-million World Bank Judicial Reform Support Project.
Marquez—who earlier downplayed the complaint as an “old recycled issue”—did not pass through the Office of the Court Administrator.
“Ms. [Rizza Joy] Laurea is misinformed that these projects were managed by the Office of the Court Administrator. I think Ms. Laurea came to that erroneous conclusion because there was a time when I wore multiple hats: I was court administrator, chief of staff of Office of the Chief Justice, head of the Public Information Office and spokesman of the court,” he said.
He added: “The accusation is ridiculous… If I did that then I would have been long gone from the court but I was not even made to comment by the SC.”
Chief Justice Teresita De Castro, JBC’s ex-officio chair, vouched for Marquez.
“I’d like to confirm based on my personal knowledge that the court administrator does not have anything to do with the World Bank Funds.”