COA chief banking on DOJ opinion

To comprehend Gen. Carlos Garcia’s plunder case, the diplomatic community is gulping up whatever it can about it. That includes this link to the ex-military comptroller’s youngest son, Timothy: http://guestofaguest.com/directory/tim-garcia/28535. The son’s house arrest in their posh Trump Place condo in New York City was among the reasons Garcia struck a plea bargain.

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Reynaldo Villar has changed his tune anew in overstaying as head of the Commission on Audit. No longer is he to leave once the President names his replacement. (Malacañang deems his term to have lapsed last Feb. 2, 2011.) Now he is to dialogue with Noynoy Aquino, who he says is “misinformed” about his tenure. Meantime, he wants everyone to wait for the Supreme Court to rule on it.

In background, it wasn’t Villar who filed the SC case in July 2010. Law professor Dennis Funa did, precisely to nullify as unconstitutional Villar’s Apr. 2008 appointment as COA chair. Had Villar left last Feb. 2, the suit could have been rendered moot. But in insisting on overstaying, he sets a prickly precedent. What if imitative officials, to defer departure, have gofers file cases ostensibly to define their tenures, then demand that everyone wait? With a swamped SC delayed from ruling, they would’ve achieved their aim of overstaying. Al Gore’s withdrawal of poll protest, in sacrifice of ambition, comes to mind in contrast.

As for Aquino being misled, Villar implies worse: that top aides and spokesmen, lawyers all, fooled him. Too, that Funa, Ateneo School of Government Dean Antonio La Viña, and ex-COA heads Eufemio Domingo, Celso Gangan, Sofronio Ursal, Hermogenes Pobre, Alberto Cruz, and Tito Nabua are talking through their hats. And purely imagined are the official papers, SC jurisprudence, and Constitutional Commission debates they cite for the illegality of Villar’s appointment.

Villar’s defense hinges on a Dec. 2009 opinion from then-Acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera. Funa cites it in the SC case, but twits it for being neither here nor there.

To recall, Villar was first appointed COA commissioner on Feb. 7, 2004, for a seven-year term till Feb. 2, 2011. Congress’ Commission on Appointments confirmed so in Mar. 2004. On Apr. 18, 2008 then-President Arroyo again appointed Villar, this time as chairman, but still up to Feb. 2, 2011. CA confirmation came on June 18, 2008. This was in violation of the Constitution. The Con-Com prohibited reappointments of commissioners to chairmen on Audit, Elections, or Civil Service. Then on Jan. 5, 2010, Evelyn San Buenaventura was named commissioner, to fill up Villar’s unexpired term till Feb. 2, 2011.

Between his and San Buenaventura’s designations, Villar began thinking that the chairmanship had gained him a new seven years. He foresaw that any replacement for his unexpired term would complicate matters. Their simultaneous retirements on Feb. 2, 2011 would leave the COA, a collegial body of three, without quorum to make decisions. Villar asked the Department of Justice if he should sit till Feb. 2, 2015.

DOJ Opinion No. 71-2009, Funa tells the SC, noticed “the anomalous and irregular situation spawned by” Villar’s reappointment. He quotes three statements of Devanadera to Villar:

• “It cannot be said that your appointment was for the unexpired portion of the latter’s term, as there was in the first place no unexpired portion to speak of”;

• “You mention that the retirement of two members of the Commission proper, having the same term of office and finishing at the same time, would cause a vacuum, thus paralyzing the operation”;

• “Your term, as presently worded in your appointment papers, is at odds with the provisions of the Constitution ... even the CA, during its deliberations on your appointment as COA chairman, observed this inconsistency”.

Due to these, Funa says, Devanadera categorically declined to render an opinion. But in the next line, she nevertheless does, saying, “This Office fully concurs with your position that ... your term shall end on Feb. 2, 2011.” About this wishy-washy nature, Funa says: “It seems that the DOJ wishes to deliver a legal opinion that it can later disown.”

Devanadera wouldn’t blame the creation of the simultaneous 2011 vacancies to the mistake of 2008. So now Villar uses San Buenaventura’s departure last Feb. 2 as excuse to stay on. It’s like the Ombudsman justifying the plea bargain with General Garcia with its supposedly weak evidence, when it weakened its own case. (Up to now it cannot explain why it prepped up five Garcia subs to contradict its own star witness.)

Sen. Frank Drilon advises Villar to not taint his record by hanging on without legal basis. Villar refuses to listen. The question arises: what is it about the COA chairmanship that makes it so hard to give up? The COA is seldom hailed, yet, as shown by former special auditor Heidi Mendoza, can be pivotal in fighting corruption. So the question begs rephrasing: why is it so hard to get honest people to work in government even for a short while?

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Lourdes School Quezon City Batch of ’71 reunion March 19, 2011, 7 p.m., Corinthian Gardens Clubhouse. Attire: casual. Bring along your significant other.

See you first at LSQC alumni homecoming Feb. 26, 2011, 8 p.m., LSQC Elementary Grounds.

For inquiries call: Eddie Salonga (0917) 5345392, Lito Carlos (0917) 4561428, Pepelu Zabala (0922) 8008848.

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E-mail: [email protected]