Thursday, March 06, 2008 Judges pledge support to oust PAO 7 head
NO LESS than 18 trial court judges signed yesterday a manifesto of support for the division of assistant public attorneys and staff members who earlier petitioned for the transfer of the agency’s regional head.
“We the undersigned judges of the Regional and Municipal Trial Courts of Cebu City hereby express our firm support to the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Cebu City. We give its conscientious, courageous, hardworking and dedicated trial lawyers and staff our unwavering vote of confidence,” the manifesto read.
“We are dismayed by the very recent, unprecedented turn of events that has put the integrity of this long-standing public office into question. We cannot condone any act or circumstance that would jeopardize the PAO’s delivery of public service and role in the administration of justice,” it added.
“We have seen how our PAO lawyers give their utmost best and exhausted it all in the performance of their court duties and in the service of their clients. Their exemplary performance defy the very weight of their case loads and the paucity of their compensation and resources,” it said.
But the subject of the ouster attempt, Regional Public Attorney Maria G-Ree Calinawan, downplayed the situation, lest it escalates and begins to degrade the entire office’s ability to serve its clients – people charged in court of crimes but don’t have money to hire their own defense lawyer.
“Those who will suffer here are not the people in the office but our clients,” she said in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
Accusations
Calinawan said she has “an idea of how to answer” the accusations but said she would rather do it in the proper forum and when officially asked. Otherwise, she said, she’d only be adding to the perception that there is trouble in the agency.
Sixteen lawyers, all belonging to PAO’s Cebu City Division, together with five members of the agency’s staff, petitioned for Calinawan’s transfer outside Cebu citing “an escalation of abusive, oppressive, coercive, vindictive acts and immoral, unbecoming conduct.”
One of the lawyers, Elisa Porio, head of PAO’s Cebu City Division, together with one staff member, Administrative Officer Carmelita Dacanay, was already ordered transferred to the PAO district office in Barili, Cebu by Chief Public Attorney Presida Rueda-Acosta.
The transfer, which takes effect on March 10, was made “in the exigency of the service and upon the recommendation of (Regional Prosecuting Attorney) Maria G-Ree Calinawan.”
The lawyers and staff went to work with black armbands yesterday to get support in pushing for their petition and to prevent the transfer.
Complaint
They also dropped by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to get an update on the two separate anti-graft charges lodged against Calinawan by lawyer Rizalina Zozobrado, one of the assistant public attorneys who signed the petition, and PAO Administrative Assistant Rodolfo Togeno (not Tojino as earlier reported.)
Both complaints sought Calinawan’s preventive suspension.
Lawyer Irene Caballes, speaking for the group, said they were shown “overwhelming support” not only by the judges who signed the manifesto but by others who aired their willingness to sign the document today.
The judges who signed included Ester Veloso of the 6th branch of the Regional Trial Court, Macaundas Hadjirasul of RTC 8, Soliver Peras of RTC 10, Meinrado Paredes of RTC 13, Raphael Yrastorza of RTC 14, Sylva Paderanga of RTC 16, Silvestre Maamo Jr. of RTC 17, Gilbert Moises of RTC 18, Ramon Codilla of RTC 19, Bienvenido Saniel of RTC 20, Generosa Labra of RTC 23 and Eric Menchavez of RTC 31.
There are only 22 RTC branches in Cebu City.
Likewise expressing their support were Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 1 Judge Monalila Tecson, Anatalio Necesario of MTCC 2 , Carlos Fernando of MTCC 4, Oscar Andrino of MTCC 5, Francisco Seville of MTCC 6 and 7 and Edgemelo Rosales of MTCC 8.
There are only eight MTCC salas in Cebu City.
The petition, addressed to the Office of the President, will most likely be referred to the chief public attorney, the same official who granted the recommendation to transfer Porio and Dacanay to Barili.
Recommendation
But Caballes is hopeful that it will be given due course.
“We can’t give up hope. We still believe that people act with the best intentions,” she said.
In their four-page petition, dated Feb. 18, the assistant public attorneys of the Cebu City Division raised several questions, among other things, Calinawan’s method of controlling the agency’s disbursement of funds.
Calinawan allegedly replaced an employee, who for years had been in charge of the function, with a confidant – with the end result of funds not reaching the district offices.
They also charged her with issuing disciplinary memoranda on the basis of unsubstantiated information and merely for embarrassing lawyers and staff members by falsely accusing them of wrongdoing within earshot or in the actual presence of the office’s clients.
Moreover, they said, Calinawan allegedly has a child with a married policeman with whom she supposedly continues to maintain an illicit relationship.
The petition is separate from two formal charges a lawyer and a staff member separately filed against Calinawan before the anti-graft office.
The first case, lodged by Zozobrado, focused on Calinawan’s move to force her out of the PAO by recommending the non-renewal of her contract without any justifiable reason.
The second, filed by Togeno, accused her of coercing him to change the contents of his explanation as to why a case before the Court of Appeals became final and executory after Calinawan’s alleged failure to file the motion for reconsideration. (KNR)
