Political Tidbits
Crime and punishment, SC style
By Belinda Olivares-Cunanan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:04:00 09/11/2008
Filed Under: Judiciary (system of justice), Graft & Corruption, Awards and Prizes
The Supreme Court, in a near-unanimous decision, voted to fire Court of Appeals Associate Justice Vicente Roxas for multiple violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct, grave misconduct and dishonesty. It cited his rush to judgment and inexplicable haste in penning the decision favoring Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) over the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
The Court also voted to strip him of career benefits. It may seem like a harsh sentence, but anyone who followed the investigation conducted by three retired justices would have been shocked at the extent to which Roxas had descended to promote the interest of one party in the controversy. One may ask, of what use is the largesse he reportedly received, now that his career is in utter ruin. On the fate of Roxas there’s probably little public dissent.
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On the varying degrees of punishments meted out to the other Court of Appeals justices, there may be some debates about the seriousness or lightness of the rebukes. For instance, Justice Jose Sabio Jr. was suspended for two months, even though he was the whistleblower. He told his presiding justice and Chief Justice Reynato Puno about the bribe offer and even disclosed the call from his brother, Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chair Camilo Sabio regarding the GSIS-Meralco case. Jose Jr. was castigated for impropriety (meeting twice with the reported would-be bribe-giver), but I think he was the least tainted in this case.
On the other hand, three other justices were only reprimanded. Two of them should have been meted out more severe punishments. For instance, Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez should have immediately inhibited himself when the case reached his court, given that his sister and two daughters work in the GSIS. While it’s true that the GSIS lost the case (through the Roxas decision), Vasquez’s failure to inhibit himself left him open to suspicion—that he had a personal bias for GSIS in delaying the resolution of the jurisdiction fight between Justices Bienvenido Reyes and Sabio. Justice Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal’s admission that she signed the decision even before she could read it shows clear sympathy for one party at worst, or a lack of probity or the abuse of the Pinoy virtue of pakikisama, at the very least.
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The case against PCCG Chair Camilo Sabio (for calling up his justice-brother to intercede in the GSIS case) is typical in our Filipino setting, where ethics and personal relations almost always blur. In fact, how many of the retired justices who investigated the controversy—and even of the Supreme Court justices—never got such calls? Camilo’s case was referred to the Office of the Bar Confidant for action, but out of “delicadeza” [sense of propriety] he should have resigned when his intercession was revealed by his brother. This leads us to the question of why First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s lawyer Jess Santos was spared by the Court, which totally ignored Camilo’s testimony that it was Santos who asked him to call his brother on GSIS’ behalf. As I said, in our culture such calls constantly happen, but there’s clearly soft-treading by the Court on Santos’ involvement.
Despite some lapses in judgment, the high court’s decision shows a desire to clean its stables. Calls for reform have escalated everywhere else in the judiciary and the Court should not tarry.
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Cecile Alvarez and I were immensely proud and happy to have as guest at our dzRH radio show last Sunday Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, founding chair and managing director of the Center for Agriculture & Rural Development-Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD-MRI), the giant micro-finance enterprise that recently shared the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation’s 2008 Award for Public Service—and its $50,000 cash prize—with a Thai awardee.
The reason is that we first discovered CARD-MRI and Aris Alip when we got him to guest on what was a very new radio program six or seven years ago. Aris recalled that that early I had predicted that his organization would win the Magsaysay Award; “Nag-dilang angel ka nga,” he told me, beaming with joy. The CARD-MRI was cited for the successful adaptation of micro-finance in the Philippines, providing self-sustaining and comprehensive services for half a million poor women and their families.
The first time we interviewed him, his San Pablo, Laguna-based micro-finance outfit was found only in six provinces in the Southern Tagalog region. Today it is spread over in 48 provinces and counts 711,000 borrowers who thrive on loans beginning from P3,000, for a total of P2.5 billion capital floated. From micro-finance CARD-MRI has branched to the CARD bank owned by borrowers, a micro-insurance company that protects their property, life and health, and several other developmental organizations that serve as models in Asia.
CARD admits to a continuing gender bias for women borrowers, but that it now allows men to borrow a “husbands’ loan” coursed through their wives! Moreover, 3,500 sons and daughters of CARD’s original nanays continue the entrepreneurship. More on Alip’s views and crucial role of micro-finance as explained by Presidential Management Staff Chief Cerge Remonde, the Cabinet oversight chief for this issue.
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Before local Barack Obama supporters freak out, let me clarify that John McCain’s 10-percentage-point lead cited here last Tuesday (USA Today/Gallup polls) came from likely voters interviewed Sept. 5-7; but the spread from registered voters was only four points. This figure may not be big, but it belies the Sarah Palin Everymom phenomenon sweeping America; one indication is that Obama now has trained his guns fully on her and not his opponent. But the question pundits pose is: How does Obama take on an Obama-like phenomenon?
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