SB justices picked for ‘pork’ cases no newbies to controversial cases

Fate has spoken.

The Sandiganbayan divisions that will handle 45 plunder and graft cases in connection with the multibillion pork barrel fund scam have already been determined through a raffle the Justices themselves conducted on Friday.

“I was hoping na hindi yung division namin ang mabubunot...It's just a wish,” Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, who also heads the anti-graft court's Third Division said in an interview aired on GMA News' “24 Oras” Thursday evening.

In several videos and photos of Tang during the raffle, she can be seen with her eyes shut in what seemed to be an expression of resignation and exasperation.

As luck would have it, Tang picked number 3, which stands for the Third Division, as the division that will handle the plunder cases against Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, his former chief of staff Gigi Reyes, alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, her nephew Ronald John Lim and her bodyguad John Raymund De Asis.

The 3rd Division will also hear 15 counts of graft, including those against Enrile, his deputy chief of staff Jose Evangelista III, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, Technology Resource Center (TRC) Director Dennis Cunanan, National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) President Allan Javellana, Napoles' children Jo Christine and James Christopher, and other accused.

Young but experienced

In a “24 Oras” video, Tang appeared to be in prayer after the cases were raffled off. The youngest member of the Sandiganbayan seemed to be asking for divine guidance for the colossal task at hand.

But Tang is no newbie to controversial cases. Prior to her appointment as an associate justice of the Sandiganbayan in August of 2012, Tang worked at the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) for 30 years.

During her stint as an assistant solicitor general, Tang challenged the plea bargain agreement between former military comptroller Carlos Garcia and then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in 2010.

The controversial agreement allowed Garcia, who was charged with plunder for allegedly amassing millions of pesos of illegal wealth, to plead guilty to the lesser crimes of direct bribery and of facilitating money laundering.

Though the validity of the plea bargaining deal was affirmed by Sandiganbayan in April 2011, the expose about the deal led the House of Representatives to impeach her. In May 2011 Gutierrez resigned from her post before the Senate could start the impeachment trial.

While Tang was at the OSG, the government was also able to recover over P60 billion in coco levy funds from the alleged cronies of the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

The coco levy fund was collected during Martial law, when coconut farmers were mad eto contribute to a fund that was supposed to develop the coconut industry and give them shares of investments.

The Supreme Court in several rulings said Marcos and his alleged cronies including Danding Cojuangco in fact used the funds for personal profit particularly in the purchase of United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) and a majority stake in San Miguel Corporation (SMC).

Tang also 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. The case was dismissed by the Manila court in February 2013.

In October 2013, President Benigno Aquino III appointed Tang, at the age of 58, as presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan, besting other older nominees.

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 San Beda College.

Trying cases of previous administration

Meanwhile, to handle plunder charges against Senator Jinggoy Estrada, his deputy chief of staff Pauline Labayen, Napoles and De Asis is the Sandiganbayan's Fifth Division headed by Associate Justice Rolando Jurado.

Jurado's courtroom will also hear 11 graft cases including those against Estrada, Relampagos, Javellana and other accused.

Jurado was appointed to the Sandiganbayan in 2003 during the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative.

His division is also currently handling graft cases against Mike Arroyo — the former president's husband — and other officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in connection with the alleged anomalous procurement of overpriced helicopters in 2009.

The Fifth Division is also handling graft cases against several members of the House of Representatives in connection with the P728-million fertilizer fund scam allegedly orchestrated by then Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante.

The funds, supposed to be for the purchase of fertilizers for farmers, were allegedly used to fund the presidential bid of Arroyo in 2004.

On July 31, 2013, Jurado ordered the arrest of Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo and five others for their alleged involvement in the scam.

The peacemaker

The Sandiganbayan's First Division, headed by Associate Justice Efren Dela Cruz, meanwhile, will handle plunder cases against Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. his director Richard Cambe, Napoles, Lim and De Asis, as well as 16 graft cases including those against Revilla, Cunanan, Relampagos and other accused.

Appointed to the Sandiganbayan in 2003, Dela Cruz was among the five nominees that the Judicial and Bar Council endorsed for the presiding sustice post in 2013.

Known as the “peacemaker” in the Sandiganbayan, Dela Cruz said during his interview with the JBC, that he has helped bridge "gaps" among fellow justices who were having "tampuhan (a spat)."

He also vowed to speed up case resolution by preventing delays during trials, and assured the JBC that he cannot be influenced by anybody when deciding on a case because "I have no connections at all."

“We have not yet seen the records. We will resolve them (pork barrel cases) based on the rules,” Dela Cruz said when asked by reporters how his division aims to resolve the cases against Revilla, which landed in his division.

In is also under Dela Cruz' court where the plunder case against Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is being heard.

The case stemmed from the alleged misuse of P366-M Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds. Arroyo is currently under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) pending the resolution of the case. — JDS, GMA News