Wednesday, August 06, 2008 Local lawyers support Sabio By Annabelle L. Ricalde
THE local chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) has declared support for the Appellate Court Justice Jose Sabio, Jr., a native of Cagayan de Oro.
Lawyer Christina Jugador, president of IBP-Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental, said they are also backing the Supreme Court's move to investigate alleged anomalies attending the Court of Appeals' (CA) controversial July 23 ruling on the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) case.
At the opposite end of the controversy is also a Kagay-anon- businessman Francis Roa De Borja - but Jugador said a large portion of the IBP local membership vouches for Justice Sabio's integrity.
The local IBP's backing of Sabio came days after the Cagayan de Oro City Council adopted a resolution expressing its "trust and confidence" of Sabio, who is a former member of the local legislative body.
Jugador said the SC probe on the issue would help assuage the perception that the judiciary is corrupt, including the lawyers.
"The controversy has somewhat eroded the confidence of the people and their perception towards us, lawyers," she told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
In a statement, the local IBP chapter said "accusations of bribery and other talk of impropriety regarding the handling of cases in our courts whether true or not, have resulted in an increasing public cynicism over the integrity and independence of the judiciary."
"Controversies and scandals involving the judiciary should be addressed quickly and resolved thoroughly, to assure the public that our judicial system still works and that we should still have faith in it," it added.
Meanwhile, the High Court will convene today the members of the three-man panel of retired justices who will hear the administrative row among magistrates of the Court of Appeals (CA), which heard the case of Meralco.
The panel, chaired by retired SC justice Carolina Grino-Aquino, will have an organizational meeting with members Flerida Ruth Romero and Romeo Callejo, to discuss the parameters and sequence of their investigation so that they will be able to submit their report on August 21.
Aquino was the justice that chaired another panel that investigated the alleged contemptuous articles written in Malaya by publisher Amado Macasaet in his column and in Newsbreak online regarding the purported P10-million bribe attempt on Associate Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago last year. The case remains pending in the SC.
SC spokesman Midas Marquez said the panel will have its first hearing on Thursday, which will be open to the public.
"The hearing will be opened to the public and to the media. It's going to be a regular hearing like oral arguments, except that there will be no cameras inside the hearing room," he said.
Marquez said the high court is leaving it up to the panel to identify the persons they would summon for investigation.
He said there is little pressure on the SC to rule promptly on the alleged bribery attempt on CA Justice Jose Sabio Jr. as well as on the propriety of the actions of other magistrates involved in the controversial Meralco ruling of the CA Eighth Division last July 23.
"I would say added pressure, because from day one the Chief Justice (Reynato Puno) has already realized the magnitude of this case so I wouldn't say it's an added pressure. The court just decided or just did what it thought would be best to do, that's why the creation of the committee was immediately done, and the committee was given a strict timeline," he said.
