PHNO-HL; OPPOSITION TO DE LIMA NOMINATION MOUNTS; NO TO TUPAZ AS JBC VOTING MEMBER

OPPOSITION TO DE LIMA NOMINATION MOUNTS; NO TO
TUPAZ AS JBC VOTING MEMBER

[PHOTO - LEFT TO RIGHT: JUSTICE CHIEF LEILA DE LIMA,
REP. NIEL TUPAZ]
MANILA, JULY 12, 2012 (TRIBUNE)
Written by Charlie V. Manalo - DoJ chief's bid, Tupas' JBC vote to be
opposed, Ex-CJ lawyer bares.
More opposition to the nomination of controversial Justice Chief Leila de
Lima is being mounted, along with a move opposing the inclusion of Iloilo Rep.
Niel Tupas as a voting member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the body
that will be interviewing nominees and applicants to fill up the vacancy in the
Chief Justice post, which vacancy was caused by the impeachment and conviction
of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Describing itself as
"bantay-salakay" (BS) of the judiciary, former impeachment defense lawyer and
spokesman for the former Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona yesterday bared he
will be filing an opposition to the nomination of the Justice Secretary for the
post of the Chief Justice and he will also oppose the inclusion of Tupas in the
JBC.

It will be recalled that De Lima was one of the prosecution witness
who had testified against Corona, apart from her having refused to comply with
the high court's majority decision allowing the Arroyo couple to leave the
country for medical reasons, thus overturning her hold departure order against
the former president, Gloria Arroyo, saying her order was
unconstitutional.

Instead, De Lima heeded the dissenting opinion of
President Aquino's first appointee, Associate Justice Lourdes Sereno.
Tupas
was the lead proscutor in the impeachment trial at the Senate trying Corona.
Another JBC member, Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero earlier said he will not give
his vote to nominee who had participated in the impeachment trial against
Corona, although he made no mention of his JBC colleague, Tupas.

Sereno
has also accepted her nomination to the position of Chief Justice and is
expected to be interviewed by the JBC. It is not known whether opposition to her
nomination will be lodged.

"Let us do away with all the 'BS' in the
selection of the new Chief Justice," lawyer Paolo Rico Quicho said in a
statement.
Quicho first issued the stinging statement aimed at De Lima and
Tupas at an interview with government station, PTV 4, the other day, alongside
former Sen. Rene Saguisag, former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel in a
discussion on the selection process for the new Chief Justice being undertaken
by the JBC.

"I do not regret having uttered these words. In fact, within
the next few days, I will be filing my formal opposition to the nomination of
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for the position. I will also seek to have
Congressman Tupas inhibit from the proceedings of the Council," Quicho added,
saying he will be presenting his arguments at the proper time and
forum.

"For now, however, I contend that it is patently flawed and
morally questionable that the process allows for those who are involved in
effecting reforms to, themselves, benefit from these reforms," Quicho
stated.

De Lima, Quicho noted, was a witness for the impeachment's
prosecution team, while Tupas was the chief prosecutor.
"Upon the former
Chief Justice's removal from office, one of these personalities now participates
in choosing the replacement; the other presents herself as the "worthy"
replacement," said Quicho. "They are bantay-salakay. BS."
BS may be the
acronym, but BS also stands for something else identified with
manure.

Corona's former lawyer added that De Lima has a pending
disbarment case for disregarding a SC order.

"Now she wishes to lead the
institution which she had wantonly disrespected in the past," Quicho
said.

"The impeachment taught us valuable lessons. It taught us
accountability and transparency. Both go well beyond the simple truthful filing
of the SALn (Statement of Assets and Liabilities Networth). Accountability and
transparency, more importantly, are about intentions and motives. It is basic
that those who seek and implement reforms should not bestow upon themselves –
directly and personally – benefits from these reforms," the lawyer
explained.

While Quicho stressed his move has got nothing to do with
political persuasions, it deals mainly with moral obligations.
"The last
thing we need are people who preach in the pulpits, about morality and other
noble ideals, and then, just as quickly as they finish their sermons, they shed
the preacher's cloak to don the chief justice's robe," Quicho said.

While
saying there is no direct translation for it in the English language, Quicho
said the vernacular eloquently captures the meaning of such deplorable behavior:
Bantay-salakay.

It is doubted that Tupas will be inhibiting himself from
the JBC voting, although he was once quoted as having said that nominees to the
highest post in the land who have participated in the impeachment trial of
Corona should be disqualified. He, however, failed to disqualify himself, having
directly participated against Corona in the the impeachment case as lead
prosecutor.

De Lima, however, appears to be concerned over the disbarment
cases filed against her and will be asking the High Court to speed up the
resolution of the cases lodged against her.

The JBC has given the
nominees with pending cases that may be used to disqualify nominees before the
deadline, set for July 30 by the JBC.

Several others continue to have
pending cases, among them Commission on Elections commissioner Rene Sarmineto,
also a nominee, who was much earlier nominated to the post of Associated
Justice. He failed to make it.

Clearances from the concerned bodies are
needed to escape disqualification.

De Lima claimed that the cases lodged
against her in the Ombudsman's office and the Supreme Court are merely
"harassment cases."

De Lima was reported to have been criminally charged
by lawyer Reynaldo Bagatsing in May 2011 before the Office of the Ombudsman for
violations of Republic Act (RA) No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft Law and RA No. 6713
or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees
for the deportation of 14 Taiwanese nationals to mainland China.
The report
also said that another casefiled in May 2011, was for alleged violation of the
Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for public officials in connection with
the dismissal of immigration officer Virginia Libunao.

The complainant
charged de Lima with Gross Neglect of Duty and Dereliction of Duty for approving
"without due process" the recommendation of meting out the penalty of dismissal
from service on Libunao and another immigration employee, Joselito Cruz, on
charges of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the
service.

The third case filed in Dec. 2010 was that of plunder filed by
taxpayer Danilo Lihaylihay for failing to give him his tax fraud informant's
reward amounting to P1.130 B in connection with the tax evasion cases of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (P3.6 B) and the Bank of America (P217 M).

As
for the disbarment cases against her in the Supreme Court, the cases remain
pending.

According to Section 5 of Rule 4 of the Rules of the JBC, if a
candidate has a pending administrative or criminal case, he or she will be
disqualified.

IBP president Roan Libarios confirmed that De Lima has a
pending case with the IBP.

In a plea to the JBC, De Lima claimed that it
was not her fault that these cases exist. She said she is doing her jon and
because of her position in goevrnment, she has become vulnerable to such
administrative and criminal cases.

She added that while it is not within
her control to get these cases disposed of within the deadline period set by the
JBC, she also said the JBC should understand her predicament.



Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved




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