Cleaning the ranks of the judiciary

Last Sunday, a coalition of non-government organizations led by Eden Divingracia, executive director of the Philippine NGO Council on Population Health and Welfare, Inc., lamented that the P10B pork barrel scandal has besmirched the reputation of legitimate NGOs. The following day on Monday, The Philippine STAR followed up this story with an editorial entitled “Casualties of a Scandal” and I fully concur that legitimate NGOs have become “collateral” damage to this billion-peso scam… where there are real victims and many innocent ones.

However, this ugly situation that shattered the hopes of many legitimate NGOs started way back during the Senate Impeachment trial of then Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada where we learned that Pres. Erap came up with his Muslim Youth Foundation, the vehicle which he allegedly used to funnel jueteng funds into the bank account of this mysterious NGO. Since then, legitimate NGOs experienced tightened rules and regulations. This situation is akin to the legitimate firearm holders, who go through stringent regulations and exorbitant fees, while the criminal elements couldn’t care less to have their firearms registered with the Philippine National Police (PNP).

With the expose’ of the P10-billion Janet Lim Napoles scam… all the more will regulators put a tighter lid to legitimate NGOs. I have no doubt that the evil doers that use NGOs for their mischief have taken its toll on the NGOs that for many years have helped marginalized people, the very sector that needs the most help. But like I said, this is the ripple effect of this toxic scam where it doesn’t choose between good or the evil NGOs. Everyone gets hurt!

If you looked into what is happening in this country today, the evil of corruption has taken its toll on all the independent branches of the Philippine government, yes including the Judiciary, where a long time ago, my dear friend and mentor, the late Sir Max Soliven, co-founder and publisher of The Philippine STAR dubbed them “Rogues in Robes.”

Call it an open secret that in this country, decisions, especially regarding expensive civil cases, are “sold” to the highest bidder and through various “intermediaries” or influence peddlers. Well, a week ago, our fellow STAR columnist Jarius Bondoc came up with that scoop that the Judiciary too had its own version of Janet Lim Napoles now only officially known as “Ma’am Arlene.” In fact, Jarius made a follow-up on that story that there’s even more than one Ma’am Arlene waltzing around within the Judiciary.

To show that the Supreme Court will not take this issue lying down, it assigned Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez to investigate and clean up the judiciary. As if on cue, pundits from all newspapers immediately pounced on the poor Midas Marquez questioning his capability of cleaning up the Judiciary. Some pundits even gave the misimpression that Midas Marquez was an appointee of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona. Poor Midas, he too has become “collateral” damage to the ugliness that has swirled around the Judiciary. But I dare say to you that he is squeaky clean!

I met Midas Marquez in Cebu a couple of times when he was still the official spokesman for the Judiciary and I remember asking him the question whether he was a Corona appointee? Midas Marquez told me that he was appointed by the Supreme Court en banc during the time of Chief Justice Reynato Puno in a vote that began at 13-2 and eventually became a unanimous vote. Corona at that time was an Associate Justice and only had one vote. So to tag Marquez as a pro-Corona is unfair to the man, who until now has carried his office with dignity and integrity, which is what we expect from members of the bench.

There’s no doubt that the new role given to Midas Marquez by a unanimous en banc vote by the Supreme Court makes him very powerful for the simple reason that he has the confidence of the Supreme Court. Mind you, I checked his background with my friends in Cebu who belong to the Judiciary and they were also unanimous in their praise for Midas Marquez and I believe that he is the right man for this difficult task.

I recall some years back that there was a corrupt Judge was removed because he had a mistress that he openly flaunted in public. That corrupt Judge was fired instantly. When that Judge (he already passed away) was asked by reporters why he was fired… he merely replied “There is no justice in the Supreme Court.” What can you expect when it was the Chief Justice himself who caught him with his paramour? If the SC has confidence with Marquez, who are we to question their choice? With Midas Marquez in charge of cleansing the Judiciary, we can expect heads to roll… and changes will come sooner than you think. Abangan!

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