Court of Appeals Associate Justice Vicente Roxas says Associate Justice Jose Sabio should have disclosed to him the bribery attempt. Video taken by INQUIRER.net reporter Tetch Torres
Lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre talks about the criminal liability of PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio for calling his brother, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Jose Sabio, and telling him not to sign a temporary restraining order against GSIS. Video taken by INQUIRER.net reporter Tetch Torres
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) The chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government has been linked to the bribery scandal at the Court of Appeals by his brother, an associate justice, who admitted before an investigation that the PCGG official had tried to intervene in a case that he was handling.
Jose Sabio Jr., who took the witness stand for the second time at Monday’s resumption of the investigation by a three-man panel of the Supreme Court, said that Camilo, his older brother, had asked him not to issue a temporary restraining order against Government Service Insurance System that was in a dispute with the Manila Electric Co.
Meralco had petitioned the court to nullify the cease and desist order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission against the Meralco board election, which GSIS had sought.
The case was given to the appellate court’s ninth division, which Sabio headed.
During the cross examination by lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre, counsel for Court of Appeals Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes, questioned Sabio about his brother.
Aguirre asked Sabio about May 30 when his brother called him.
Sabio said that at around 8 a.m., Camilo called him and asked him not to sign the temporary restraining order against GSIS.
Aguirre then asked what time on May 30 the Meralco case was raffled, to which Sabio replied, “10 a.m.”
The raffling determines which division will handle a case, in this instance the one which Meralco had filed.
When pressed, Sabio said he might have been wrong about the time his brother called.
On Sabio’s admission, which was also contained in the affidavit submitted by the associate justice before the panel, retired Justice Romeo Callejo Sr. asked whether the attempt by Camilo to influence his brother wasn’t unethical and whether the PCGG chief was berated for trying to interfere.
“No because he [Camilo] is my older brother and I respect him. I only told him that I will decide accordingly. Besides, there is no offer of a bribe,” Justice Sabio said.
He said that what had transpired was only a “conversation” between him and his brother.
But Callejo countered that even if there was no offer, “wasn’t that a criminal act under the revised penal code, because it constituted corruption of a public officer and, as such, there was no need for an offer of a bribe?”
Sabio apologized to court. “I’m sorry your honor,” he said.
Callejo said that had Sabio immediately disclosed what his brother had said, he and his colleagues in the three-man panel would not have been dragged into the case and they would still be enjoying their retirement.
Even Sabio's colleague, Associate Justice Vicente Roxas, the ponente (author) of the decision, questioned why Sabio had kept to himself the fact that the PCGG chairman had called him and asked him not to sign the TRO.
"Justice Sabio shirked in that duty to let the ponente know of the criminal act allegedly done to him so that the ponente could take immediate steps to protect the integrity of the ponencia."
"Is it normal that the chairman will not inform the senior member of anything criminal happening related to the case? I am really bothered," Roxas said.
"What bothers me is how the body will rule on our credibility," Sabio said.
"You said that as chair, you should bawl out anybody if there is something wrong being done [to] the court," Roxas asked during the cross examination.
"He is putting words in my mouth. He is making gratuitous remarks. I never said those things," Sabio said.
Roxas admitted that he had a draft temporary restraining order and had asked Sabio to sign it.
"I went to your office with the draft and copy of the deliberation. If I am a junior member, would you not have bawled me out? When you were looking at the TRO, before you signed it, you said the dates of the hearing, all that you wanted, were already there," Roxas said.
"I only signed the draft because I agreed with what was contained in it, and only on the condition that after issuance of the TRO, there will be an oral argument because I want to listen to the parties," Sabio explained.
"Did you berate Justice Roxas?" Roxas himself asked.
"What is the reason to berate you? That time?" Sabio said.
Meanwhile, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Flerida Ruth Romero, another member of the panel, said she was bothered by the fact that matters that were internal to the Court of Appeals would be revealed to the public.
"You said you are not surprised because walls have ears. This kind of attitude is what bothers me, that even a Court of Appeals justice will take these things for granted," Romero said.
Sabio said it was for this reason that he decided to come out in the open and expose what had happened.
He said he agreed with the description of Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Conrado Vazquez, who described their en banc session as a "torrid discussion" of the issue.
He said he even remembered Reyes banging his hand on the table when he spoke, with another lady justice asking Roxas, "Vic, pera-pera na naman ba pinaguusapan ditto [Are we talking about money again]? Magkano na naman ang [How much is] involved?"
But before Sabio could continue, Romero stopped him from talking about the en banc session, saying it is a matter for the court to discuss.
Sabio has been accused by a supposed “emissary” of Meralco of seeking a multimillion peso bribe to inhibit himself from the case.
Sabio has denied the allegation but the scandal has prompted an investigation by the high tribunal.
The inquiry by the three-man panel will resume Tuesday.
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