Accused justice is ‘bishop’ to his colleagues

MANILA, Philippines–One of the two accused justices is known to be such a devout Catholic he is addressed as “bishop” in court. The other is known for uncompromising integrity throughout his career.

As two magistrates face accusations of corruption, employees of the Court of Appeals (CA) expressed their solidarity with Sixth Division Associate Justices Jose Reyes Jr. and Francisco Acosta, and challenged their accuser, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, to prove his allegations.

“His allegations have damaged not just the justices but the entire institution,” said Amiel de Vera, president of the Association of Court of Appeals Employees (Acae).

“If he has evidence, show it, in order to spare the court from the damage of his bravado, his ‘political striptease,’” De Vera said, borrowing from Makati Mayor Junjun Binay camp’s description of Trillanes’ allegations.

The senator had accused Reyes and Acosta of accepting P25 million each from the Binay camp in exchange for their issuance of a temporary restraining order, and later a writ of preliminary injunction, to stop the Ombudsman’s order preventively suspending the mayor for six months while he is being investigated for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to overprice the construction of the P2.3-billion Makati City Hall Building II.

The Sixth Division issued the injunction on April 6, putting Binay’s suspension on hold until it had ruled with finality on a petition to permanently stop the order.

The Sixth Division has denied the charges, saying Trillanes’ allegations were baseless and constituted harassment.

The senator, a known critic of the Binays, has vowed to produce witnesses to prove his allegations against the justices. His accusations did not include the third member of the Sixth Division, Associate Justice Eduardo Peralta Jr.

“The senator should not hide under the cloak of parliamentary immunity to malign the Court of Appeals. It is the institution that’s being destroyed. It affects even us, the employees,” said De Vera, speaking on behalf of the CA’s 1,600 members.

“He should show evidence, then give it to the Chief Justice, because the Chief Justice is the one who has the deciding authority over cases involving justices, judges, lawyers,” he said.

Acae is planning to undertake soon a solidarity action to “defend the honor and integrity” of the appellate court, he added.

De Vera said court employees were united in the belief that the accused magistrates were clean. He said Reyes, an active member of the appellate court’s Catholic community, was even called “bishop” for his devotion.

“Whenever there are occasions where we need an invocation, justices always defer it to the ‘bishop,’” said De Vera.–Tarra Quismundo