JBC to screen Villa-Ignacio's qualification

MANILA, Philippines - The bid of Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio to become the successor of Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Reynato Puno may be up for a big setback due to a previous administrative sanction and a pending criminal case.

Members of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) revealed yesterday that they would check on the cases involving Villa-Ignacio, the only outsider nominated so far for the chief justice post.

“If he was penalized and he has pending cases, he can be disqualified,” JBC regular member and retired SC justice Regino Hermosisima said in an interview.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, ex-officio member of the body that screens bets to the judiciary, confirmed that the JBC has “very high standards when it comes to pending cases.”

“If you’re vying for a post in the Supreme Court (SC) and you are an outsider with a pending criminal case, malabo na ‘yan (that’s quite unlikely),” she told reporters.

Devanadera cited as example her case when she applied for a vacant post in the High Court last year and the JBC did not consider her because of a pending case against her also at the Ombudsman.

“No matter if it’s really pending or just not acted upon, what is pending is pending,” she explained.

She further revealed that the JBC is very strict in following rules that applicants who retook the Bar are “less preferred” for a position as judge in a regional trial court.

She said the rules of the JBC on the selection for the chief justice post apply to both applicants from inside and outside the SC.

“The only difference is if you’re a member of the Supreme Court, there’s no more public interview.”

Villa-Ignacio was sanctioned by the SC first division in March 2001 when he was still the judge of Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 143.

In the three-page SC Resolution, which was promulgated in Baguio City on March 23, 2001 under Administrative Matter No. RTJ-00-1592 entitled Fe Reas Correa vs. Judge Dennis Villa-Ignacio, “the Court resolved to reprimand respondent judge with the stern warning that a repetition of the same or similar act shall be dealt with more severely.”

The case stemmed from a complaint filed with the Office of the Court Administrator by Fe Reas Correa against Villa-Ignacio for his inaction to resolve her motion for reconsideration of the judgment rendered in Civil Case No. 94-1028, entitled “Fe Reas Correa vs. Jimmy Correa.”

However, it was discovered that in his personal data (PDS) sheet when he applied for the position of Ombudsman in October 2005, Villa-Ignacio indicated that he had never been convicted or sanctioned by any court or tribunal.

This prodded Ombudsman lawyer Luz Marcos to file a case before the Ombudsman against him for the crime of perjury for allegedly falsifying his PDS.

Aside from this, Villa-Ignacio is also facing several charges before the Office of the Ombudsman, including an estafa case filed by his subordinate, Assistant Special Prosecutor Elvira Chua, in March 2008 in connection with a fund-raising drive that he initiated in December 2005 for victims of typhoon “Milenyo.”

Meanwhile, former President Joseph Estrada yesterday said that President Arroyo should allow the next president to appoint the next Supreme Court chief justice.

“Out of delicadeza, she should give a chance to the next president because after the 2010 presidential elections we will have a new president,” Estrada said.

He said that under the Constitution, the outgoing president is banned from making appointments two months before the elections. – With Jose Rodel Clapano