The depth of corruption at the Appeals Court
(First of two parts)
First came the seeming whistle blower, Justice Jose Sabio Jr. who claimed that he was offered P10 million ($217,746 at an exchange rate of $1=P45.925) by someone close to the Lopezes to step aside and let Justice Bienvenido Reyes preside over the division that would decide on the intra-corporate dispute between the Lopez family and GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) Chair Winston Garcia in the battle for control over the Manila Electric Company (Meralco). But suspicions shifted to purported whistle blower Sabio after businessman Francis de Borja appeared saying that Sabio told him he was offered a Supreme Court seat and an undisclosed amount of money to rule in favor of GSIS. Sabio, according to Borja, said that it would take P50 million ($1,088,731) for him to resist pressures from the Arroyo government.
Who is telling the truth?
It did not help any that at the hearings of the investigation panel formed by the Supreme Court (SC), which was comprised by retired justices, the honorable justices of the Court of Appeals (CA) started bickering and accusing each other of violating judicial processes to favor one of the contending parties. What was revealing during the hearings was that the bickering justices gave inconsistent statements; and worse, there were numerous violations of judicial processes and ethics putting into question the integrity of the second highest court of the land. Clearly, partisan interests were at work and the (dis)honorable appellate court justices were acting in behalf of opposing parties.
Then came the admission of Justice Sabio that his brother Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chair Camilo Sabio called him up suggesting that he rule in favor of GSIS. But that was not all, Camilo Sabio, during his testimony, revealed that he decided to call his brother after Jesus Santos, lawyer of Jose Miguel Arroyo and GSIS trustee, told him that the division handling the Meralco case, of which his brother was a member, was about to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in favor of Meralco.
The SC investigation panel was rightfully appalled at the obvious leakage of what was transpiring inside the walls of the appellate court. But what was more appalling was the PCGG chair who supposedly does not have anything to do with the workings and decisions of the Court of Appeals suddenly calling his brother lobbying for a decision favorable to GSIS. (Much like a Commission on Elections chair getting involved in the approval of a government contract that has got nothing to do with elections!) And he found nothing wrong with it? The investigation panel hit the nail in the head when they said that Sabio was blurring the line between what was ethical and not, between what was right and what was wrong.
Worse, he admitted that he did so because he was prompted by a GSIS trustee who just happens to be, or so they claim, the lawyer of the husband of the president. Santos was quick to claim that Jose Miguel Arroyo has got nothing to do with his act of trying to influence the decision of the CA. (To be continued)