Dismissed justice: FG Miguel Arroyo behind my ouster

Dismissed justice: FG behind my ouster


By Aries Rufo, Newsbreak, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/16/2008 6:05 PM
For three hours, the mobile phone of Court of Appeals Justice Vicente Roxas kept on ringing but the magistrate was not in the mood to answer the call. It was the afternoon of May 30, and the corporate war between the Lopez group and the Government Insurance System had just reached the CA. A raffle held earlier in the day had picked Roxas as the ponente of the case.

The caller ID displayed the name of a ranking government official, who is known to Roxas. He then received a text message with clear instructions: for him to decide in favor of GSIS over the Meralco case. The instruction, the text said, was from the First Gentleman Miguel “Mike” Arroyo. The text said this was “for the Filipino people.

"I should have accepted the call,” Roxas said, with a tinge of regret and partly in jest.

We interviewed Roxas Monday afternoon and asked him to confirm a report we gathered that Mr. Arroyo tried to reach him when the Meralco case landed on his lap. He hedged at first, but related the attempts to reach him through his mobile phone.

Roxas said his refusal to take the call could have angered the powers-that-be and thus began the orchestrated drive to destroy his reputation. “You destroy the ponente, you destroy the (Meralco decision),” Roxas said.

The 8th division of the CA had ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission has no jurisdiction over the Meralco row, as it nullified the SEC cease-and-desist order against Meralco from validating the proxy votes of the Lopez group during the May 27 stockholders’ meeting.

It was a scheme he was only able to make sense of after the SC dismissed him from office last week. The rest of this story

SC sacks CA justice, suspends another in bribery scandal

SC sacks CA justice, suspends another in bribery scandal

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/09/2008 4:16 PM
The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed from the judiciary Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Vicente Roxas and suspended CA Justice Jose Sabio for two months for their irregularities and improprieties in connection with the bribery scandal involving the Manila Electric Co. and Government Service Insurance System (Meralco-GSIS) case.
Two out of the 15 justices did not take part in the decision imposing penalties on the erring CA justices.
Twelve SC justices voted to dismiss Roxas while one voted for suspension. He was dismissed with forfeiture of all benefits except accrued benefits.
In Sabio's case, 10 voted to suspend him without pay for two months, one voted for a six-month suspension, one voted for a reprimand since he was the whistleblower, and one voted for dismissal.
The SC reprimanded Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez for his failed leadership in handling the bribery case.

The SC admonished Justice Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal for allowing herself to be rushed by Justice Roxas to sign the July 8, 2008 decision granting Meralco's request for a temporary restraining order, which allowed the election of a new board and the Lopez family to maintain control of Meralco.
As for CA Justice Bienvenido Reyes, the SC found him guilty of simple misconduct. He was reprimanded and given a stern warning.

The SC called on the Department of Justice to conduct a preliminary investigation of businessman Francis de Borja, who allegedly tried to bribe Justice Sabio with P10 million so that another justice can handle the Meralco-GSIS case.

With respect to Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairman Camilo Sabio, the SC directed the Office of the Bar Confidant to conduct disbarment proceedings against Camilo for trying to influence his brother, Jose, to support the GSIS in its battle for control of Meralco. The rest of this story