PNoy appoints youngest member of Sandiganbayan as presiding justice

President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Sandiganbayan Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang as the new head of the anti-graft court.

At 58, Tang is the youngest member of the anti-graft court. She was appointed as an associate justice of the Sandiganbayan in August 2012.

There is an ongoing ban on appointments because of the October 28 barangay elections, but deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told GMA News Online that the ban does not apply to judiciary posts.

In a letter dated October 1, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa informed Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno that Aquino has signed the appointment papers of Tang. She will be replacing Presiding Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr. who retired last June 8 after he turned 70.

The acting Sandiganbayan presiding justice, Gregory Ong, was recently linked by a whistle-blower to alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles. In her affidavit, Marina Sula said she had seen Ong visit Napoles at her office at the Discovery Center in Ortigas, GMA News' 24 Oras reported last week.

Napoles is facing plunder charges at the Ombudsman for allegedly orchestrating elaborate schemes that funneled billions of government funds into fake NGOs for ghost projects, in exchange for kickbacks to government officials. She is currently detained for a separate serious illegal detention case.

30 years at OSG

Before her appointment to the anti-graft court, Tang worked at the Office of the Solicitor General for three decades.

As Assistant Solicitor General, Tang represented the government in a writ of amparo case filed by former National Bureau of Investigation director Magtanggol Gatdula against the Department of Justice and the NBI.

While she was at the OSG, Tang said the government was able to recover over P60 billion worth of coco levy funds. The money came from taxes imposed on coconut farmers during the Martial Law years by alleged cronies of then-President Ferdinand Marcos, including Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, with the promise of sharing investments and development of the coconut industry.

She received five votes from the seven-member Judicial and Bar Council, which recommends appointments to the anti-graft court. During her public interview, Tang said she can convince Sandiganbayan justices to "cooperate in a time-sensitive process" that would speed up the resolution of cases pending before the court.

Before her stint at the OSG, Tang worked as a judicial assistant at the Supreme Court for two years.

She earned her Political Science degree from the Manuel L. Quezon University, and her law degree from the San Beda College. -- KBK/YA, GMA News