Devanadera out of Supreme Court race

MANILA, Philippines – The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has disqualified Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera and former energy secretary Raphael Lotilla from the list of nominees for two vacant seats as associate justice of the Supreme Court because of pending cases against them at the Office of the Ombudsman.

Court of Appeals Associate Justice Martin Villarama, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr. and University of Santo Tomas law school dean Robert Abad emerged as top choices of the JBC for the two posts left vacant by the retirement of Associated Justices Dante Tinga and Alicia Austria-Martinez earlier this year.

The seven-member JBC unanimously picked the three nominees during final deliberations yesterday.

The other three choices were CA Associate Justices Hakim Abdulwahid and Mariano del Castillo and lawyer Rodolfo Robles, who each got five votes.

CA Associate Justice Josefina Guevara-Salonga, the top choice of SC justices, was not able to make it to the final list after she got only three votes at the JBC voting.

Devanadera is applying for an SC seat that is still being deliberated on by the JBC. As justice secretary, Devanadera is also an automatic member of the JBC.

Devanadera had inhibited herself from voting in the council.

JBC members are particularly careful in deliberating on the qualification of Devanadera because they would be questioned in case she is appointed to the SC and the Ombudsman decides to file a complaint against her.

Devanadera reportedly has two pending cases at the Ombudsman.

In October 2006, former Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson had filed charges against Devanadera and 42 other officers of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), Bulk Handlers Inc. (BHI) and Poro Point Industrial Corp. (PPIC) in connection with the alleged anomalous supervision and operation of the Poro Point Special Economic and Freeport Zone in San Fernando, La Union.

But in March 2007, Singson excluded her from the list of respondents implicated in the Poro Point controversy. This prompted her to ask the Ombudsman to resolve the case as early as January.

The Ombudsman, however, ordered her to submit a counter-affidavit in the complaint just last week.

Devanadera is also facing another graft case involving alleged anomaly in the purchase of books when she was still head of Office of Government Corporate Counsel, according to her office.

Earlier, the Ombudsman announced that the solicitor general is facing 15 other charges from anonymous complainants.

Lotilla also has pending complaints before the Ombudsman, including the alleged defiance by the National Electrification Administration, which Lotilla then headed in 2006, of a status quo order issued by the SC reinstating eight of the 15 directors of the Batangas Electric Cooperative II, who were sacked for allegedly approving two anomalous contracts.

The administrative case related to the Batangas Electric Cooperative II has been dismissed, but the criminal complaint is still pending.

JBC rules specify that those with pending criminal or regular administrative cases are “disqualified from being nominated or appointed to any judicial post or as Ombudsman or Deputy Ombudsman.”

The final list from the JBC would be forwarded to Malacañang and President Arroyo will make the final decision to appoint the two new justices of the SC.

An insider said the President is likely to appoint an outsider to one of the two vacant SC seats.

Robles, reportedly a friend of Mrs. Arroyo, got his chance after the JBC scrapped a rule on the age of nominees that had earlier threatened to have him disqualified.

Under the rule that was scrapped during earlier deliberation of JBC, nominees who are not from the judiciary should be able to serve in the SC for at least five years before reaching mandatory retirement age of 70.

Robles, who is turning 66 next month, has only four years left to serve in the judiciary if he gets appointed.

However, the JBC amended the rule, giving Robles a fresh shot at the SC.

Robles told The STAR that his qualification for a seat in the SC is more than just as a lawyer and businessman.

He topped the Bar examination in 1967, was the third youngest member of the Constitutional Convention in 1971, and founding dean of Arellano University law school in 1977.

After completing his master’s degree in Harvard University in the US, Robles practiced law for 25 years with the Robles, Brillante, Ricafrente and Aguirre law firm.

He is also known as author of the Miranda doctrine under Article VI Section 20 of the 1972 Philippine Constitution as well as the law creating the Office of the Ombudsman during the term of the late

dicator Ferdinand Marcos in 1978.