Vizconde, tutol sa nominasyon ni Carpio para sa posisyon ng punong mahistrado

Tinutulan ni Lauro Vizconde ng Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) nitong Huwebes ang nominasyon ni Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio para sa chief justice position. “I am respectfully submitting my vehement objection to the nomination and appointment of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as he is wanting in, and has not proven his possession of the qualities of integrity, probity and independence,” ani Vizconde sa kanyang tatlong-pahinang oposisyon letter na isinumite sa Judicial and Bar Council. Si Visconde ang ama nina Carmela at Anne Marie Jennifer Vizconde, at asawa ni Estrellita ang mag-inang minasaker noong 1991. Ang Vizconde massare ay naging "celebrated case" dahil nadawit sa kaso si Hubert Webb, anak ng dating senador na si Freddie Webb. Kasama si Dante Jimenez, itinatag ni Vizconde ang VACC noong 1998. Ayon kay Vizconde, "corrupt" si Carpio, longtime counsel at malapit na kaibigan ng pamilya Webb. Dagdag pa niya, pansariling interes lamang ang isinusulong ni Carpio. Sa kanyang oposisyon, binanggit ni Vizconde ang naunang sinabi ni dating Chief Justice Renato Corona na: “Talagang binabraso at iniimpluwensyahan ni Carpio ang kanyang mga kasama para mapawalang-sala si [Hubert] Webb. Ito ay sinabi umano ng napatalsik na chief justice ilang buwan bago mapawalang-sala ng Korte Suprema si Webb at ang anim pang iba, dalawang dekada matapos ang massacre. “I was taken aback by the information given by the chief justice, but there is no conceivable reason, other than his commitment to truth and justice, for him to say it,” ayon kay Vizconde. Hindi naging mabuti ang samahan ni Corona at Carpio matapos hirangin ni dating Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo si Corona bilang punong mahistrado sa halip na si Carpio, na pinaka-senior na mahistrado noong panahong iyon. Isasalang sa public interview ng JBC – ang mamimili ng mga nominado para sa chief justice position – si Carpio sa darating na Hulyo 26. “Due to such association of Justice Carpio with the President [Aquino], his appointment will only create the impression of Executive [Branch] control over the Judiciary, hence, jeopardizing the highly sanctified and ever revered principle of separation of powers,” ani Vizconde.   “Appointing Justice Carpio to the Highest Judicial Office with the foregoing unsettled and still haunting issues will be a blemished start for the new Supreme Court and would only promote divisiveness than unity in our country,” dagdag niya. — Mandy Fernandez /LBG, GMA News