MANILA, Philippines -- It was "highly improper'' for Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to meet with a drug suspect's parents and lawyer while a drug case was pending before his office, a lawyer said on Wednesday.

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco said Gonzalez had "no business'' meeting with Richard Brodett's parents and lawyer Felisberto Verano since a dismissed drug case involving the young Brodett and two others was awaiting automatic review.

"It's highly improper for him to allow a litigant and his lawyer to appear before him while a case is pending before him,'' he said in a phone interview, adding the Secretary could face administrative liability for this.

Gonzalez's act was no different from a judge who "talked to one party and his counsel in the absence of another party and his counsel,'' according to Francisco who had filed cases against officials and companies on behalf of aggrieved citizens.

It would have been prudent if Gonzalez also asked the counsel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to appear jointly with the counsel of Brodett's before him, he pointed out.

Verano admitted that he and Brodett's parents met with Gonzalez on the afternoon of December 23, 2008, to press for the release of Brodett, Joseph Tecson and Jorge Joseph.

A panel of prosecutors recommended the dismissal of the charges against the three, who were arrested in buy-bust operations by PDEA agents on September 20, 2008, but the dismissal was subject to automatic review by the Department of Justice.

Former Senate president Franklin Drilon, who served as justice secretary during the Aquino administration, however, said Gonzalez could not be faulted for meeting with the litigants and their lawyer.

"He's both a quasi-judicial public official and a Cabinet member. It's very difficult to attach wrongdoing to his behavior,'' he said in a phone interview. "He's a public official; he can entertain visitors. And he didn't give in to the request.''

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita agreed. "If I were Secretary of Justice, that is just input when I conduct review of case. I don't think we should give malice to that,'' he said in a briefing.

Francisco, Drilon and law professor Carlos Medina of the Ateneo de Manila University, however, agreed that Verano's move to draft the release order on DOJ official stationery and transmit it to Gonzalez for his signature was improper.

"That's highly irregular. That is not usually done but it's an open secret in the legal profession that if somebody is trying to facilitate the issuance of an order, he usually prepares the order for the signature of a judge, prosecutor or hearing officer,'' Francisco said.

There were times when a judge, prosecutor or hearing officer asks the facilitator--usually the lawyer of a defendant -- to prepare the draft for his signature, the lawyer said.

"Nobody will have the guts to prepare an order for the signature of somebody, in this case Secretary Gonzalez, unless he's certain he can get this signed and get away with it,'' he added.

Francisco is among those who filed charges against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and former Elections chair Benjamin Abalos Jr. in connection with the graft-tainted $329-million National Broadband Network deal.

Medina, who teaches constitutional law at the AdMU, agreed.

"He (Verano) might have been comfortable enough with the system and the people to come up with a draft and send it to the Justice Secretary -- something that an ordinary lawyer will be careful not to do,'' he said in a phone interview.

Francisco, Medina and Verano are alumni of the AdMU College of Law, and are fraternity brothers in the Fraternal Order of Alumni.

Drilon said: “He (Verano) should be disciplined. That's a question of ethics. Why did he do that? There's no excuse for such behavior. It's beyond lawyering.''

Ermita said: “On the face of it, it's not regular.''

Verano's behavior and the transmittal of his draft release order to Gonzalez through the office of Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor again highlighted corruption in the judiciary, and easy access of the rich to the justice system.

"The members of the judiciary are in a denial stage. They keep denying that corruption is going on, but we have a very corrupt judiciary. The litigants, lawyers know that it has become a quest for survival,'' Francisco said.

"How does one survive in a corrupt judicial system if doesn't go along with it? That's the question lawyers and litigants are asking.''

Medina, also the executive director of the Ateneo Human Rights Center and co-convener of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections, said: "The problem with the justice system is that the poor have less access to it than the well-connected, rich and powerful.''

Drilon said: "It only shows that the connection system is still very prevalent not only in the DOJ, but in the entire bureaucracy.''