EDITORIAL - Justice for sale

The only good thing about this sordid episode is that the culprit got fired. It remains to be seen whether the dismissal of Elvira Cruz-Apao as clerk of court of the Court of Appeals will improve the administration of justice and lead to a cleansing of the judiciary.

Apao was fired by the Supreme Court and permanently barred from government service for extorting P1 million from a litigant to speed up re-solution of his case in the Court of Appeals. According to court records, Apao had told the litigant, Zaldy Nuez, that it was how things were done at the CA; too bad for litigants without money. Nuez had filed a complaint for illegal dismissal against the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. before the Civil Service Commission. When the CSC ordered his reinstatement, PAGCOR went to the CA and got a temporary restraining order or TRO. Nuez’s case had been pending for two years when he approached Apao.

Apao must have spoken from experience; she had been in government service for 24 years before she was fired. If that is the state of affairs at the CA, you shudder at the thought of what’s happening in lower courts. Judges have long been suspected of selling TROs and decisions to the highest bidder, thinking that unjust rulings can be overturned anyway by the appellate court. Apparently some CA personnel have a similar attitude, thinking that justice can be rendered and appellate court rulings can still be overturned anyway by the court of last resort, the Supreme Court. So why not turn CA decision-making into a lucrative fund-raising enterprise?

The case of Apao gives yet another disheartening glimpse into the way justice is sold, negotiated and undermined in this country. The Supreme Court, which has had its share of accusations of impropriety, at least meted the right punishment on an erring member of the judiciary. The corruption, however, has become institutionalized, as indicated by Apao herself, and it will require drastic measures to excise the rot.