Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Malacañang on Monday said it was Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s call how the Supreme Court would handle allegations of corruption in the judiciary, in the wake of doubts raised against a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Court of Appeals that helped Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. overcome a suspension order issued against him by the Ombudsman.
“We are all against corruption in all its forms. We are, however, recognizing the role of the separation of powers and the existence of the three branches of government. We will defer to the Chief Justice as to how the Supreme Court handles corruption cases within their branch,” said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
Palace reporters had sought a comment from Lacierda to a statement issued by a nongovernment organization calling on Sereno to investigate what it said was a “TRO for sale” trade in the Court of Appeals.
Coalition of Filipino Consumers secretary general Perfecto Tagalog claimed that an appellate court justice had told him that fellow magistrates were granting TROs in exchange for money, hence the term, “justice for sale.”
According to Lacierda, the executive and judicial branches share “the same advocacy of fighting corruption.”
“As a lawyer I’ve heard so many stories about situations like these and so we will leave it to Chief Justice Sereno and her peers to find ways to investigate and to find a solution, a long-term solution to this corruption in the judiciary,” he said.
The most recent controversial TRO was the one that the appellate court issued Binay, which successfully stopped the Office of the Ombudsman, the local governments and justice departments from implementing a suspension order stemming from graft allegations against the mayor.
Last year, the Supreme Court investigated a certain “Ma’am Arlene” who allegedly facilitated the sale of court decisions, influencing justices to rule in favor of her clients for a price. Nikko Dizon