Report: CA justices to revise rules, craft 'reform' covenant

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals (CA) on Thursday said it would come up with a “covenant" aimed at regaining the public’s trust and confidence on the appellate court, a radio report said. Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez was quoted in the report saying that eight senior justices from the appellate court dropped by the office of SC chief Justice Reynato Puno earlier in the day to tell him about their plan. The magistrates who dropped by the high court were Portia Aliño-Hormachuelos, Martin Villarama, Edgar Cruz, Mariano del Castillo, Josefino Salonga, Magdangal de Leon, Rebecca de Guia-Salvador and Lucas Bersamin. The group reportedly told the chief justice they were planning to draft a new covenant that would detail certain reforms to cushion the adverse effects of the recent SC ruling which sanctioned five CA justices. “They said they would be coming out with a statement. It’s like they have made a covenant among themselves and they would also be announcing the steps they would be taking in the next few days," Marquez said. The CA justices said the new CA covenant would even include a revision of the appellate court’s internal rules, Marquez added. “They were mentioning some institutional reforms that they would like to undertake in the next few days, including a revision of the IRCA (Internal Rules of the Court of Appeals). But it’s best for us to wait for the announcement," he said. The visiting magistrates said they would be asking all the other CA justices to sign the reform agreement. Aside from the five sanctioned personalities, the CA has 59 other justices. The said covenant would be made public Monday morning, during the weekly flag-raising ceremonies at the Court of Appeals building in Manila. On Tuesday, the high court ordered the dismissal of CA Associate Justice Vicente Roxas who penned the controversial July 23 decision stating that the Securities and Exchange Commission has no jurisdiction to validate the proxy votes counted in favor of the Lopez-bloc of the Manila Electric Co (Meralco). Aside from Roxas, four other CA justices, including Associate Justice Jose Sabio Jr, were meted with respective punishments such as suspension, reprimand, and admonition. Sabio, who was ordered suspended for two months by the high court, earlier claimed he was being bribed with P10 million to rule in favor of Meralco. Later on, he also revealed speaking to his brother, Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) chairman Camilo Sabio, about the ownership row at Meralco. The PCGG chief allegedly told his brother to exhaust legal means to rule in favor of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), which has a big stake in Meralco. - Mark Merueñas, Carlo Lorenzo, GMANews.TV