EDITORIAL - Purge the judiciary

In Valenzuela, Executive Judge Jaime Bautista of the Regional Trial Court was arrested and charged with bribery after accepting P5,000 in marked money in an entrapment operation last week. The other day, the Supreme Court dismissed an asso-ciate justice of the Court of Appeals for interceding on behalf of a notorious drug trafficking suspect. CA Justice Demetrio Demetria was also stripped of all his retirement benefits and permanently barred from holding public office. Demetria is set to contest his penalty, which he deemed severe, considering that no money was involved.

The dismissed justice, who said the evidence against him was hearsay, initially threatened to disclose corruption in the judiciary but later changed his mind. His wife, weeping as she met the press yesterday, reportedly complained that there were more corrupt public officials who deserved punishment.

Demetria will still face criminal charges for graft and obstruction of justice. His troubles started when he and sports patron Go Teng Kok went to the office of State Prosecutor Pablo Formaran III last year and asked him to "go slow" on the case of Go’s sister-in-law Yu Yuk Lai, who was being held without bail by the police for drug trafficking. Demetria also called up Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño regarding Yu’s case. Demetria said the controversial Yu, who was caught playing baccarat in a casino when she was supposed to be detained at Camp Crame, had been framed up by the police.

National leaders have made noises for years about going after so-called hoodlums in robes. Unscrupulous magistrates and prosecutors – once referred to as "fix-cals" – have eroded the people’s faith in the judiciary. Because of the corruption, it is often said that in this country, it’s good to know the law but it’s better to know the judge. Even the Supreme Court has not escaped allegations of wrongdoing in the past.

The purge in the judiciary, however, has been slow, with the catch being confined largely to small fry. The dismissal of a member of the Court of Appeals can send the long-awaited message that this time, those out to clean up the judiciary mean business.