Suspended Sandigan chief opts for early retirement

Suspended Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena has opted for early retirement before the Supreme Court can impose stiffer sanctions on him for failing to dispose of cases pending in his sala since 1987.

The retirement of Garchitorena, who was suspended last year, takes effect today, three days before an SC-imposed deadline for him to resolve the backlog of cases.

Mandatory retirement age for justices is 70. Garchitorena is only 64.

In a three-page letter to Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., Garchitorena said his decision would spare the judiciary from further embarrassment.

"To keep the issue any longer in public view will not be beneficial to the judiciary. I respectfully submit that the situation is not salutary to the judiciary as a whole, and that it would be best to remove the problem altogether, namely myself," he wrote.

Garchitorena has finished 21 of the 43 cases assigned to him. "Nonetheless, the undersigned is continuing his drafting of ponencias in remaining cases," he wrote the SC.

He said he decided to avail himself of early retirement as he "cannot reasonably comply with the (Sept. 30) deadline" despite his best efforts.

"My continued stay at this time... may not be the most salutary situation," said Garchitorena, who has been in the anti-graft court since 1986 and had worked in the Senate before that.

He asked the SC justices to extend until Oct. 30, if possible, the stay of his staff who are co-terminous with his tenure so that they can make necessary preparations "for their own future."

Garchitorena was suspended indefinitely on Nov. 28 last year after the Integrated Bar of the Philippines complained that cases in the anti-graft court, especially the high-profile Marcos cases, had been gathering dust in the justice’s chamber.

He was fined P20,000 for gross neglect of duty, and was given six months to devote his time to decision writing.

But even before the deadline could expire he sought an extension, which was turned down by the SC with a warning of stiffer sanctions.

Senior Justice Minita Chico-Nazario has since taken Garchitorena’s place as presiding justice.