SC welcomes Guevarra offer to assist judiciary in corruption probe

The Supreme Court (SC) has welcomed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra's offer to assist the judiciary in investigating corruption in its ranks even as it said it has its own integrity mechanisms.

"As for the offer of Secretary Guevarra to assist the judiciary in its campaign against corruption, the same is very much appreciated," SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said in a statement Thursday.

"Any assistance for the good of the institution and to protect its integrity should not be shunned, but instead welcomed," he added.

Guevarra, who leads a task force ordered to investigate corruption in all of government, said Wednesday that they are willing to work with the judiciary should it need help in its anti-corruption efforts.

He also acknowledged that the judiciary has recently put up its own integrity bodies.

The SC established the Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) and the Corruption Prevention and Investigation Office (CPIO) last August.

The Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) has the power to receive and act on administrative complaints against the justices of the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, Shari'ah High Court, the lower courts, and officials and employees of the judiciary.

The JIB is composed of retired justices.

On the other hand, the CPIO has the power to investigate or conduct intelligence, surveillance or entrapment operations or lifestyle checks on justices and judiciary officials and employees liable for various offenses.

These include violations of civil service rules, the code of conduct for justices, judges, and court personnel, SC orders, and penal laws on crimes such as dereliction of duty, bribery, malversation of public funds or property, among others.

The Guevarra-led task force, for its part, will prioritize looking into alleged corruption in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Land Registration Authority.

Originally ordered to investigate PhilHealth alone, the task force has filed criminal complaints against several officials of PhilHealth before the Office of the Ombudsman. More investigations into specific PhilHealth divisions are underway.

Guevarra said the expansion of the investigation to the entire government is the "toughest" assignment President Rodrigo Duterte has given him. —KBK, GMA News