ON TARGET
De Lima too young to be Chief Justice
By Ramon TulfoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is a strong contender for the position of Chief Justice left open with the ouster of Renato Corona.
There is no doubt De Lima is much qualified for the job.
A very articulate lawyer, De Lima placed eighth in the 1985 bar exams.
But at 52, she’s too young for the Supreme Court, where the retirement age of a justice is 70.
She’s better off being a senator.
If she runs for the Senate, she will surely win because she’s very popular.
* * *
Why is the Office of the Ombudsman foot-dragging in the administrative case filed by the Department of Justice against the suspects in the kidnapping of Noriyo Ohara, a Japanese citizen?
The DOJ’s fact-finding committee, headed by Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, recommended several months ago the filing of administrative cases against agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who were found involved in the kidnapping.
But until now, Mario Garcia, an NBI agent and one of the kidnap’s principal suspects, has not been suspended.
Garcia, who allegedly planned the kidnapping, continues to hold office.
* * *
A lot of things have happened since the conclusion of the DOJ fact-finding panel’s investigation.
For one, NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula was dismissed from the service.
NBI Deputy Director Reynaldo Esmeralda survived an ambush which was allegedly masterminded by people who suspected he tipped me off about Ohara’s kidnapping.
It was the other way around: I tipped off Esmeralda.
The NBI has arrested the alleged gunman and the suspected recruiter, a former policeman, in the Esmeralda ambush.
* * *
An executive of a major TV network, who conceptualized the network’s top-rated news programs, is thinking of resigning because management has lost trust in him.
And why did management decide to no longer trust the executive?
It listened to intrigues—a game played by talents or officials in any big radio or TV network who put down their colleagues—thus putting the executive in a bad light.
How did the beleaguered executive become grist for the intrigues mill?
A public service show host sought the help of the executive in improving his public service show aired weekly by the network.
The public service show host and the TV executive are close friends.
The executive swore he never received any compensation from the host for his efforts.
But the scuttlebutt was that the executive received huge payments on the side from the public service program host for making suggestions to improve the latter’s show.
Goodness gracious! I personally know the public service show host and he’s kuripot (a tightwad).
If the beleaguered TV executive resigns, expect the network’s news programs’ ratings to plunge.
By the way, if the executive leaves the network, the TV host should also quit his job because he was the cause of the executive’s current predicament.
* * *
It seems the TV network’s top management doesn’t appreciate people who push up the network’s ratings and therefore bring in the cash.
Top management officials who listen to intrigues from its subordinates are like simpletons who believe everything that is told them.
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Tags: Chief Justice search , Crime , Metro , News , Supreme Court
