Timeline: CA bribery case
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:55:00 09/10/2008
Filed Under: Judiciary (system of justice)
May 27 - The GSIS gets from the SEC a cease-and-desist order (CDO) to stop the counting of proxy votes during the Meralco stockholders meeting and election in May. Meralco ignores the CDO, announcing that the SEC order is "null and void", since the order does not a carry a docket number, has no official seal, and only signed by an officer in charge and not by the entire commission sitting en banc.
May 28 - SEC orders Meralco to explain why it should not be cited in contempt for ignoring the CDO.
May 29 - Meralco goes to the Court of Appeals to oppose the SEC directive. The Meralco petition is raffled to the Special 9th Division.
May 30 - Justice Jose Sabio is chosen as acting chair of the 9th Division (taking the place of Justice Bienvenido Reyes, regular chair of the 9th Division and who is on vacation leave) with Justices Myrna Dimaranan Vidal and Vicente Roxas as members. Roxas is designated the ponente, or the designated writer of the decision.
The 9th Division hears the oral arguments in the case.
The appellate court issues a temporary restraining order on the SEC order.
July-A reorganization takes place in the Court of Appeals and Roxas is transferred to the 8th Division.
Reyes returns to duty and reclaims chairmanship. Sabio opposes.
Roxas, on the other hand, upon his transfer to the 8th Division, brings the case along with him since he is the ponente.
Both Reyes and Roxas ask CA Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez, Jr. to issue an opinion on who has jurisdiction on the Meralco case. Vasquez fails to immediately resolve the impasse.
July 23 -The CA's 8th Division - headed by Reyes, with Justices Antonio Bruselas Jr. and Roxas as members - voids the SEC CDO.
July 24 -Vasquez finally issues an opinion on the squabble, saying that it's the 9th Division that should rule on the Meralco case. The opinion is of course rendered useless since the Reyes-led division has already promulgated a ruling just the day before.
Sabio and Vidal protest the promulgation.
July 26 - Sabio tells Vasquez in a letter that he had been offered P10 million on July 1 to inhibit himself from the Meralco case. Sabio says the offer was made to him by a Makati businessman brokering for Meralco.
July 31 - The CA holds a rare en banc session and decides that it will elevate the issues to the Supreme Court.
Aug. 4 - The high court forms a panel to investigate the bribery allegations.
Minerva Generalao and Eliza Victoria, INQUIRER Research
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