ON TARGET
Strange behavior at the SC and CA
By Ramon TulfoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Candidtes for the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals should be made to undergo neuro-psychiatric tests to determine their psychological capability.
I’ve heard reports from insiders that some justices in the high tribunal and the appellate court have been acting strangely.
There are reports of a high court justice, for example, who suddenly shouts without any reason.
A justice at the appellate court, on the other hand, has a light bulb at the entrance of his office. When the red light is on, nobody is allowed to enter his office because he’s in a bad mood.
This justice seldom comes out with decisions and has been criticized by colleagues for being lazy.
Another appellate court justice tapes the aperture of the door in her office so nobody can peep through it.
Nobody knows what she does in her office.
The Supreme Court dismissed a judge several years ago for admitting in public that he consulted dwende (elves) in arriving at court decisions.
It’s high time high court justices also looked into the mental health of their colleagues and justices at the Court of Appeals.
* * *
I had dinner with a long-time friend, a Chinese-Filipino businessman, a few days ago and the conversation touched on the administration of President Noy.
My friend, a silent billionaire, said the reason P-Noy gets very high ratings in the surveys is because he walks his talk in fighting graft.
The Chinese business community, my friend said, is all praises for the President’s anticorruption campaign.
“Mon, the President may have his shortcomings—who doesn’t, anyway—but he’s doing his level best to have a clean government and the people know that,” said my Chinoy friend.
And so it is.
* * *
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa plays the role of “Little President” to the hilt. They say he hires and fires presidential appointees without consulting the Boss.
He reportedly dismissed Carlos Gadapan as deputy director general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) without an order from P-Noy.
And then he appointed retired police general Arturo Cacdac Jr. as PDEA head even when the guy whom Cacdac replaced, Director General Jose Gutierrez, had not yet been informed that he had been fired.
To top it all, Ochoa never informed presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda about Cacdac’s appointment.
Lacierda was made to look like a fool in the firing of Gadapan and the hiring of Cacdac.
Whether the President berates Ochoa for usurping the powers of the Office of the President is his problem, but he should tell Palace officials to at least be courteous with one another.
* * *
With the signing of the framework of the peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the massacre of 19 Special Forces soldiers in Al Barka, Basilan province by MILF rebels has already been forgotten.
Four Army colonels who were the superiors of the slain elite troopers are undergoing court martial proceedings for the debacle.
Brig. Gen. Teodoro Cirilo Torralba III, president of the court martial, told reporters the court’s “job is to find out who’s at fault.”
Suppose the court finds that the rebels were at fault—as obviously they were—will the military go after those who killed and mutilated the 19 soldiers?
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Tags: Court of Appeals , Government , Judiciary , MILF , Mindanao , MNLF , Paquito Ochoa , peace process , Supreme Court
