Retired chief justice Hilario Davide Jr. lamented that the Cebu provincial government showed little regard for environment protection in its choice of projects showered on barangays and towns in what he called “immoral early campaigning”.
He said P141 million worth of checks were distributed by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and her brother, Rep. Pablo John Garcia from July to December last year in visits to localities to sponsor projects such as barangay halls, day care centers, multi-cabs and aid for town festivals for the Pasigarbo competition.
“But nothing (was given) for the protection and preservation of our environment or for mitigating the effects of climate change,” he said.
Davide spoke last Saturday before law students in the University of Cebu as the main lecturer in a forum on the Oposa Doctrine, a 1993 landmark case on environmental justice where Davide was the ponente or main writer.
He based his observation about “early campaigning” on records of Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre who sent him a “List of released checks under governor’s fund for the period July to Dec. 17, 2012.”
Governor Garcia, sought for comment, said Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale “is also going around distributing the honoraria for barangay health workers, daycare workers, tanods and bahas. Is that also ‘immoral, early campaigning?”
Garcia also asked whether the accusations of the retired chief justice as father of a candidate, Junjun Davide of the Liberal Party, were “moral” “daang matuwid” and “not-too-early campaigning”.
The Capitol documents surfaced in reply to Davide’s letter request for information dated Dec. 12, 2012 or a week before a six-month suspension order was served on Governor Garcia.
The treasurer’s reply was contained in an indorsement dated Jan. 15, 2013 when control of the Capitol was already in the hands of Acting Governor Magpale.
A review of the papers by Cebu Daily News showed that over 540 checks were issued for various community projects for a total of P141,198,615.42.
They include amounts of P100,000 per barangay hall or day care center, P300,000 to P500,000 for each town’s festival contingent for the annual Pasigarbo contest, and P50,000 to P100,000 for “socio” projects. No details were given in the list for what kind of “socio” projects were undertaken.
Checks for multicabs and pickups supplied by one company, Cebu Sendal Motors Sales Inc., amounted to P16.3 million.
The list didn’t say how many vehicles were given and to whom.
Most of the checks were issued for barangay projects in the second district of Garcia’s father reelectionist Rep. Pablo Garcia and the third district, where Gwen is running for a congressional seat to replace her brother Pablo John.
BALANCED ECOLOGY
Davide’s lecture in the UC Banilad campus focused on the impact of the case of Minors Oposa vs. Fulgencio Factoran, the former secretary of natural resources.
The case set a precedent in international legal circles when the Philippine Supreme Court allowed 43 children to sue the government to cancel timber licenses to enforce their right to a “balanced and healthful ecology” on behalf of children of future generations.
Davide, who was a justice in the SC at the time, said the Oposa doctrine was now “globally recognized” and a tribute to the work of Cebuano environment lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr. who argued that a citizen has a right to the benefits of a protected environment and to have it preserved for “generations yet unborn”.
Davide said Philippines “is the first country in the world” to enshrine in its 1987 Constitution the duty of the State to protect the “right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”
Davide then commented that “It is sad to note that in Cebu the provincial government and some local governments are not giving serous attention to the environment or the problem of climate change.”
“I was deeply saddened,” he said, “to find out that from July to December 2012, more than P141 million were distributed in checks, much of which were the Pasigarbao sa Sugbo at P300,000 per municipality plus P30,000 for foodstuffs, and for cultural and social activities and construction of day care centers and health care centers, hundreds of them.”
The criticism called attention to the 2013 campaign, where Davide’s eldest son Hilario III or “Junjun” is running for governor for the second time under the Liberal Party.
In his speech, Davide said the distribution of checks by the governor and her brother in field visits around Cebu “was clearly for political purposes and constituted indecent and immoral early campaigning, this time to deceive the people into believing that without the governor and her brother, their municipalities or barangays would receive nothing.”
“Being not an official of the provincial government, the brother has absolutely no personality to make any representation whatsoever in regard to the provincial government’s money. What he should have distributed was part of his own pork barrel,” said Davide.
The accusation was leveled at the main opponent of Davide’s son in the Cebu gubernatorial race, Congressman Pablo John Garcia.
PJ Garcia, in reaction, sought to turn the tables on the retired magistrate.
“The Chief Justice, uncharacteristically for a lawyer, heaps an unproven assumption upon another assumption. I have never claimed that without me those checks would not have been given,” said PJ Garcia in a text message to CDN.
“As I learned from reading his Supreme Court decisions, all accusations must be supported by evidence. Not by another unproven accusation.”
”He should also ask his son why he was in Argao (town) last Tuesday, Feb. 5, where funds from the national government were distributed to barangay captains. So is his son also guilty of immoral early campaigning? Or does his theory not apply to his son?”
March 29 is the start of the official campaign period of local and congressional candidates but many aspirants are already barnstorming their localities getting as much exposure as they can.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) says a complaint has to be filed first and a hearing called before it can decide whether the election law has been violated.
Davide’s request letter to the Provincial Treasurer last December asked in the interest of “truth and transparency” to be given a list of towns and barangays which received checks from the governor since July 2012.
He said he wanted to find out how the checks and cost of the purchase of multicabs was charged against the 2012 budget.
The list was sent in January but the treasurer did not answer the query about the source of budget allocation.
In his letter, Davide invoked a provision of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees which requires a government office to respond to a citizen’s request within 15 days.
He said it was “public knowledge that for months now the Governor, usually accompanied by Rep. Pablo Joh F. Garcia, as well as Buboy Durano who are candidates for Governor and Vice Governor, respectively, in the May 2013 elections, has been going around the province to distribute checks and/or multicabs to various municipalities.” /Eileen G. Mangubat, Dale Israel and Carmel Loise Matus.