The Sandiganbayan watch

The Secretary of Justice, Leila de Lima, and Ombudsman Lourdes Carpio-Morales obviously believe they are guilty of and there is sufficient evidence to convict them of plunder or graft. Finally the cases that the Filipino people have been waiting for have been filed at the Sandiganbayan.

For more than a year, the battles on the PDAF scandals have been fought on the floors of the Senate and in media. On the Senate, the theatrics have been waged during Blue Ribbon meetings, privilege speeches and even confirmation hearings. In media the forums have been press conferences, broadcast interviews, newspaper headlines and opinion columns.

Now the cases for plunder and graft against Enrile, Estrada, Revilla, Napoles, Gigi Reyes, et al, are with the judiciary. Can we now expect swift and unbiased justice from the Sandiganbayan justices?  We can continue to hope and pray. But more important is for the citizenry to remain vigilant even though many times this is still not enough.

 I have lost count how many years the case regarding the Fertilizer Fund scandal, starring Jocjoc Bolante still remains unresolved in the Second Division of the anti-corruption court. For those interested, the Second Division is composed of Presiding Judge Teresita Diaz-Baldoz, Associate Justices Napoleon Inoturan and Oscar Herrerra. Justice Diaz-Baldos was appointed October 17, 2003 by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Her educational background include St. Theresa’s College, High School 1962, University of Sto. Tomas, AB English 1966 and Bachelor of Laws 1970. Perhaps, her classmates can ask her why the case is taking so long to resolve.

Again, despite the  many complaints against judges, Midas Marquez remains the head of the Office of Court Administrator and, therefore, remains the point person for judicial discipline. Is Marquez really the person to launch a reform program in the judiciary?

For the foreseeable future, national attention will  hopefully remain riveted on the trials of the accused plunderers. It might be worth noting what this institution, responsible for the trial and swift justice, is all about.

In the 1987 Constitution, the Sandiganbayan was vested with jurisdiction over all offenses charged committed by a public official. Specifically it has exclusive jurisdictions over violations of the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Law and Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Wealth Law.

Its vision is to be a “judicial institution that the Filipino people can rely on for the attainment of the highest norms of official conduct required of public officers and employees.”

Its mission is “to give life and meaning to the constitutional precept that a public office is a public trust and to impress upon public officers and employees that they are at all times accountable to the people with their duty to serve with the highest degree of responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency. It carries this objective by conducting expeditious trials of criminals and civil cases involving offenses committed by public officers and employees including those employed in government owned or controlled corporations.”

I note that the mission includes “conducting expeditious trials.” I hope the term ”expeditious” is not measured in terms of decades by the justices.

The Sandiganbayan is composed of 15 justices divided into five divisions. Each division has three members — a presiding justice and two associate justices. The cases against Bong Revilla will be tried by the First Division chaired by  Justice Efren de la Cruz as chair with Associate Justices Rodolfo Ponferrada and Rafael Lagos as members.

 The cases against Enrile will be tried by the Third Division composed of  Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang as chair with Associate Justices Samuel Martirez and Alex Quiroz as members.

The cases against Jinggoy Estrada will be tried by the Fifth Division composed of  Justice Roland Jurado as chair and Associate Justices Alexander Gesmundo and another member to be borrowed from the other divisions as members.

There is no question that this PDAF scandal has become a nationally traumatic experience not only because of the powerful political personalities involved but because it finally exposed the systemic corruption pervading in the public this many years. The results of these trials could determine whether the rule of law has finally become institutionalized in our country.

For the entire Filipino people, especially those who intend to keep vigil on the Sandiganbayan, it is important to know more about these justices in whose hands will lie the determination of whether or not the Filipino people will have faith in the judicial process.

Justice Efren de la Cruz, First Division chair was appointed October 10, 2003 during the term of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ( GMA). He graduated Bachelor of Laws from the University of the East (1980). He signed the arrest order for GMA in 2012 involving the alleged misuse of PCSO intelligence funds. He also signed the arrest order for retired Lt. General Jacinto Ligot for false declarations in his SALN. He also ordered the arrest of former Dinagat Island Congressman Ruben Ecleo in connection with graft in 2006.

Associate Justice Rodolfo Ponferrada was appointed August 23, 2004 during the term of GMA. He is a law graduate of the San Beda College of Law and is founding member of the Lex Talionis Fraternitas, Inc. Sodalitas Ducum Futurorum. Associate Justice Rafael Lagos was the 1980 bar topnotcher and was awarded Most Outstanding Judge in 2003. Hopefully this was during the pre-Ma’m Arlene era. He was appointed December 9, 2010, during the term of then newly elected President Noynoy Aquino.

Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang chairs the Third Division which will handle the cases against Enrile. At the age of 58, she was the youngest member of the anti-graft when she was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III as Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice in October 7, 2013.

During her interview, prior to her appointment, she said that she could convince the other justices to cooperate in a time sensitive process that would speed up the resolution of cases pending before the court. She also favors transferring jurisdiction of minor cases to the Regional Courts to declog the anti-graft court and speed up resolution of cases in the Sandiganbayan. Hopefully she will remain committed to swift justice. She graduated BA in Political Science from MLQU (1975) and Bachelor of Laws at San Beda (1979).

Associate Justice Samuel Martirez is a controversial judge. He was appointed October 15, 2005 during the term of GMA. In January 2012, he dismissed the case against Imelda Romualdez Marcos. Roberto Ongpin , Fabian Ver and 16 others of amassing ill gotten wealth from the Binondo Central Bank in 1984.

The PCGG and the Office of the Solicitor General remarked that this decision “was not an honest and good faith attempt to resolve the instant case in a principled way.” It would be interesting to see how he votes on these cases against Enrile.

Associate Justice Quiroz was appointed December 5, 2008 during the term of GMA. He finished with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the East (1979) and law from MLQU (1983). He has favored opening proceedings to the public through CCTV cameras and the internet.

I will introduce the Fifth Division justices in the next column.  I hope the citizenry will remain vigilant and remind the justices that “ Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.”

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]