Graft investigator new MTCC judge

CEBU, Philippines – An outstanding graft investigator has been appointed as the new presiding judge of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities in Lapu-Lapu City, the position which was earlier rumored to have been given to prosecutor Mary Ann Castro.

Judge Allan Francisco Garciano, 39, a native of Poro town, took his oath before Supreme Court Justice Diosdado Peralta at 10 a.m. yesterday. He was accompanied by his wife Mylaine and some close friends during his oath-taking.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Garciano’s appointment on April 14.

Garciano, who served as graft investigation and prosecution officer of the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas for more than 10 years prior to his appointment to the judiciary, was adjudged most outstanding graft investigator in 2001.

He is also a member of the “Oplan Red Plate Task Force” of the anti-graft office, which runs after government officials and employees using government vehicles for personal purposes.

Garciano finished his Bachelor of Laws in 1994 at the University of San Carlos, where he also studied Bachelor of Science in Political Science, and passed the bar exam a year after.

After passing the bar, he then worked at the Civil Service Commission for three years before entering the anti-graft office in 1998.

Garciano is the seventh graft investigator from the Ombudsman Visayas to be appointed to the judiciary.

Other former graft investigators who are now members of the bench are Judges Glenda Go, Edgemelo Rosales, Estella Alma Singco, Macaundas Hadji Rasul, Charina Navarro Quijano and Christine Abad.

Garciano said after taking his oath, he would immediately start his one month emersion and attend the orientation seminar at the Philippine Judiciary Academy. The emersion and orientation seminar are a requirement before a newly appointed judge is allowed to start hearing cases.

The MTCC in Lapu-Lapu City has been vacant since the promotion of Judge Ester Veloso to the Regional Trial Court.

Last year, it was reported that Castro had been appointed to the position.

A well-placed source from Malacañang allegedly told Castro that her appointment was already signed by the President.

In fact, Castro then issued statements to the media that her impending appointment as a judge was a fulfillment of the “vision” allegedly given to her by the Our Lady of Medallion when she visited her shrine in Bogo several years ago.

Castro then said that the “vision” was given to her through a voice that “whispered” to her ear while praying in front of the Virgin Mary in Bogo that she would become a judge in 2010. – Fred P. Languido/LPM (THE FREEMAN)