High Court reinstates Castro

THE Supreme Court (SC) has ordered former Cebu City prosecutor Mary Ann Castro to resume the practice of her profession.

In a two-page notice, the SC’s Third Division lifted Castro’s six-month suspension and reinstated her to the practice of law effective Jan. 27, 2017.

“I can now claim my back wages, allowances, and bonuses,” Castro told SunStar Cebu.

Castro resigned as assistant prosecutor of the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor last April 1, after about 18 years in the government service.

“I’m not happy there anymore,” said Castro, adding that the working environment was “no longer healthy.”

In June 2015, the SC suspended Castro for six months and a day for wielding “excessive influence” when she asked the police to help her brother who complained about a defective vehicle he bought in 2001.

It affirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeals, which found Castro guilty of using her influence “for a personal matter.”

In 2016, the SC’s Third Division again suspended Castro for six months for filing separate petitions for annulment of marriage in two trial courts in Cebu in 2000.

Castro has not received her salaries for April, September and November 2016 up to the present.

After her resignation, Castro, had said she wants to practice law and handle cases in Manila and be “at par” with high-profile lawyers like Ferdinand Topacio and Raymond Fortun.

She even joked that she’s willing to handle the drug cases of her former boss, jailed Sen. Leila de Lima, “if the price is right.”