SC starts probe on ‘Ma’am Arlene’

MANILA, Philippines - A committee of the Supreme Court (SC) has gathered initial information about a certain “Ma’am Arlene” linked to reported influence peddling in courts.

Invoking the confidentiality rule, the SC did not disclose any of the information that it had received.

Initial probe of the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) has shown three “Arlenes” in the judiciary known for supposedly “fixing cases” in the Court of Appeals and regional trial courts.

They include a clerk at the CA, a former employee at the Manila regional trial court and a prominent staff at Manila City Hall.

The OCA had traced the source of the reports to a supposed “smear campaign” in the electoral contest in Philippine Judges Association (PJA).

It was earlier confirmed that Arlene Lerma - the woman who reportedly left the country last week - is among those that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is investigating.

In a statement, the SC said: “The court administrator informed the committee of the preliminary information obtained by his office’s probe and answered questions from the committee. The NBI team updated the Committee on its preliminary findings and also answered some queries from the Committee.”

The committee chaired by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen has met earlier this week with Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez and the NBI.

“As agreed upon by the committee during its organizational meeting, the identities of these resource persons and the information they disclose will not be disclosed to the public,” the SC said.  The committee will convene again next week to receive information from resource persons.