Honest justices at appeals court

I’ve been writing about the corruption at the Court of Appeals where some cases are decided not on the merit but on how much a litigant is willing to pay and where temporary restraining orders (TROs) are for sale.

I have my moles within the court, and because they are insiders, they know who are corrupt and who are honest.

You can count the justices in the Court of Appeals who are not—repeat, not—corrupt.

I am naming some of the incorruptible justices so the public may know:

Rosalinda Asuncion-Vicente; Eduardo Peralta; Fernanda Lampas-Peralta; Rebecca de Guia-Salvador; Jose Reyes; Apolinario Bruselas; Amelita Tolentino; Celia Librea-Leagogo; Hakim Abdulwahid; Noel Tijam; Ramon Cruz; Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla; Amy Lazaro-Javier; Pamela Ann Magsino and Gabriel T. Ingles.

The newly-appointed justices are not included on the list because my spies said they still have to handle cases where big money could change hands.

One of them is incapable of being dishonest, say my sources, because the justice is “weird” and, as such, is unapproachable.

*  *  *

As the last court employee leaves the Court of Appeals building after office hours, luxury or flashy cars start to arrive within the compound of the appellate court, according to my moles.

The occupants of the cars are lawyers of litigants, or litigants themselves accompanied by their lawyers, who follow up their cases.

They lobby—to use a euphemism—with the corrupt justices for their cases to be decided in their favor.

Some of the lawyers reportedly bring decisions already written for the corrupt justices to sign.

*  *  *

Normally, a case on appeal takes many months, even years, for the Court of Appeals to reach a decision.

But a decision was reached in record time recently for a much publicized case.

My sources said P10 million changed hands between the ponente (the justice who wrote the decision) and the favored litigant.

* *  *

The three San Juan City cops who allegedly “planted” drugs on a 23-year-old mother of two in her home have been charged with violating Section 29, Article II of Republic Act 9165 in the City Prosecutor’s Office.

This is the law that imposes the death penalty on any law enforcer who plants drugs as evidence on an innocent citizen.

The death penalty has been replaced by life imprisonment, thanks but no thanks to President Gloria Arroyo, bowing to pressure from the Catholic Church.

Perhaps only a few policemen know that such a law exists.

For how can you explain the rampant planting of drugs on innocent citizens by antinarcotics cops?

If SPO1 Pablo Sillorequez, PO3 Erich Joel Temporal and PO3 Jayvin Pangilinan are found guilty of planting drugs on Michaela Joy Reyes, they will probably be the first cops to get the severe penalty under the law.