SC, NBI set probe on alleged corruption in judiciary

Associate Justice Marvic Leonen. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) met on Friday and discussed how they could better coordinate in investigating the alleged corruption in the judiciary and alleged “decision-brokering” activity of a certain “Arlene.”

“We talked about how we will go about the coordination between the NBI and the Supreme Court,” NBI OIC Director Medardo De Lemos said Friday.

Leonen is the head of the body created by the Supreme Court en banc to investigate the reported influence-peddling in the judiciary. Two other Supreme Court retired justices will join Leonen in the investigation.

The investigation of Leonen’s committee will be consolidated with the result of investigations by the NBI, Office of the Court Administrator and the Court of Appeals.

De Lemos said the NBI team that will conduct the investigation will be composed of agents from different divisions-Special Task Force, Intelligence, Anti-Fraud and Anti-Graft.

“The OIC will directly supervise the team with the help of the Deputy Directors,” De Lemos added.

De Lemos said the scope of the probe would include the controversial election of officers of the Philippine Judges Association (PJA) where ‘Ma’m Arlene’ was said to have worked her ‘magic’ to influence the selection process.

He said they would also look into reports of case fixing and identify who are the reported three  “Arlenes” allegedly involved in the anomaly.