SC junks disbarment complaint against Carpio

MANILA, Philippines - The disbarment complaint against acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio has been dismissed in the Supreme Court (SC).

Lauro Vizconde had accused Carpio of lobbying with other justices for the acquittal of convicted killers of his wife and two daughters.

At the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), voting on a shortlist for chief justice was again deferred yesterday. JBC members failed to settle the issue on disqualification of three candidates who have pending cases.

The delay, the fifth in two weeks, arose from a move of Malacañang representative Undersecretary for special concerns Michael Frederick Musngi to relax a rule on the disqualification of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and two other candidates.

The SC dismissed the complaint against Carpio a few hours before the JBC was set to hold final deliberations on the qualification of the 20 aspirants.

“We find no basis to proceed with the consideration of the complaint-affidavit in light of Article XI, Section 2 of the Constitution,” read the SC resolution. “Thus, we are barred by no less than the Constitution from entertaining complainant Lauro Vizconde’s complaint against Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, currently a sitting justice of this Court.” 

Last Aug. 6, Vizconde accused Carpio in the disbarment complaint of having “influenced appointments” to various posts in the judiciary in 1992 when he was the chief legal counsel of President Fidel Ramos.

Carpio pushed for the impeachment and removal of now dismissed chief justice of Renato Corona, he added. 

Vizconde accused Carpio of gross violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct and Code of Professional Responsibility.

“In truth, there is no other lawyer and/or judge who is more corrupt than Justice Carpio,” he said. “He is everything a lawyer and a judge should not be. He cannot be permitted to remain a member of the Bar any longer.”

After the SC dismissed the complaint against Carpio, the JBC proceeded to tackle the cases of De Lima, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza and Securities and Exchange Commission chair Teresita Herbosa.

De Lima is facing two disbarment cases with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Jardeleza a pending administrative case at the Office of the Bar Confidant, and Herbosa an administrative case.

In a closed-door meeting, JBC members were already agreeing to apply Section 5, Rule 4 of its Rules and disqualify the three candidates.

However, Musngi had asked to suspend this rule on the basis of equity, according to Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., another JBC member who seconded the proposal.

“When that question on integrity was raised, we have to be unanimous,” Tupas said. “It’s a veto power, that’s why we were not able to resolve that issue.”

Tupas said they decided to move their voting to Monday at 11 a.m. 

When the JBC submits the shortlist on Monday, President Aquino will only have eight working days to appoint the next chief justice. 

Under the Constitution, he has 90 days from May 29 when Corona was removed to make the appointment.  

Consultation

At the Senate, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the two representatives of Congress in the JBC must consult their peers before casting a vote on the shortlist for chief justice.

It is only proper that Sen. Francis Escudero discuss the matter with other senators in a caucus to find out who they want to be included in the shortlist, he added.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said he will support the proposal of Lacson if taken up formally in the Senate.

The chairmen of the committees on justice of the Senate and the House of Representatives are ex-officio members of the JBC.

Several members of Congress want a bigger role in the selection of justices to the SC and the other courts.

Suggestions have been made that the screening and selection of justices should be done through the Commission on Appointments (CA) just like in the past.

The CA, comprised of members of the Senate and the House, go over almost all presidential appointments and has the sole power to decide on the fate of these nominees. – With Marvin Sy