Ex-SC Justice Morales defends independence before JBC

“I feel I have the moral fiber to prosecute those who ought to be prosecuted and to ward off extra-legal factors that impede the proceedings." Thus Conchita Carpio-Morales, a recently retired Supreme Court associate justice who is seeking the Ombudsman post, told the Judicial and Bar Council in a public interview on Thursday, addressing accusations attacking her independence. At least seven people have asked the JBC not to include Morales on the shortlist of nominees to be recommended to President Benigno Aquino III. Among those who opposed Morales’ candidacy is former President and current legislator Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who said that the former SC justice has “consistently" dissented in high court decisions that favored the Arroyo administration. Rebutting this, Morales told the JBC: "I am not the right person to comment on my independence, but I think my decisions speak for themselves. Whoever says I am not independent, he or she is entitled [to say it]." Voting pattern at the Supreme Court Morales likewise cited a 2008 survey conducted by investigative news organization Newsbreak which had looked into the voting pattern of Supreme Court justices that time. The Newsbreak survey showed that in cases where the Arroyo administration had high stakes, Morales had voted in 10 decisions that were in favor of the Arroyo administration, and 11 against. In the JBC interview, Morales said: “The fact remains that in a survey in 2008, my voting for or against cases against the [Arroyo] administration was apparently equal. So I leave it at that." An examination of Morales’ voting pattern after the 2008 survey that would indicate a pattern of dissent in cases involving the Arroyo administration. In March 2010, Morales was the lone dissenter when the majority of the SC justices voted to allow then President Arroyo to appoint the next chief justice during the elections appointment ban from March to June 2010. Arroyo eventually appointed Renato Corona to be the successor of then retiring chief magistrate Reynato Puno. In December last year, Morales also joined the minority who voted to uphold the legality of President Aquino's Executive Order No. 1, which created the Truth Commission that would have investigated the corruption allegations against Arroyo. The SC majority, however, ruled that EO 1 is unconstitutional. It was Morales who penned the Feb. 15, 2011 decision that gave the House justice committee the green light to resume the impeachment proceedings against then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. The House panel eventually impeached Gutierrez in April for allegedly sitting on cases filed against perceived Arroyo cronies, paving the way for an impeachment trial at the Senate. Ten days before the Senate could start the trial, Gutierrez announced she was resigning her post effectively on May 6. Aquino's favored one? Morales' supposed pattern of dissent against Arroyo and her allies made her Aquino's top pick as Gutierrez's replacement. Morales administered Aquino's oath when he was inaugurated President in June 2010, but in the JBC interview, Morales addressed the issue of her independence in the light of her alleged closeness with Aquino. “I don’t know why I am being associated with President Aquino. I have not met him before he wrote me a letter asking me to administer his oath. I read in the papers that he wants me but I kept silent because that’s hearsay. When he finally wrote me, that’s the first time he wrote me. That’s the first communication with him in writing. And I never communicated with him verbally, so I don’t think association [with Aquino] would be material to their opposition," Morales said. Speaking to reporters after the JBC interview, Morales said Aquino had “never" offered her the position, belying reports that the President personally asked her if she wanted to be named Ombudsman. Morales asserts she is qualified Morales also told the JBC that even if Associate Justice Antonio Carpio is her cousin, the family ties will have no bearing should she be appointed as Ombudsman. Carpio was the founding partner of the Carpio Villaraza Cruz law firm, which is handling cases pending before the Office of the Ombudsman. "The famous line that you cannot choose your relatives — he [Carpio] is my relative; but I do not ape him, neither does he ape me. That he is founding member of CVC Law does not have any bearing on my independence, in my capacity to decide on the merits of the case and the evidence presented before us," she said. Asked whether she is still capable of handling rigorous work even if she is already 70 years old, Morales said her age does not prevent her from performing her duties well. “[The issue of age] is something belied by the results of my wellness examination taken in mid-May. And I don’t know why age , being 70, has to do with coping up with my work of the Ombudsman. My work as Supreme Court justice is much more difficult than the work of the Ombudsman," she said. — MRT/KBK, GMA News