SC panel on CA bribery mess summons GSIS exec

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court panel investigating the bribery scandal in the Court of Appeals on Wednesday summoned a top official of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to give information on the employment records of the relatives of CA President Justice Conrado Vasquez Jr in the state pension fund. GSIS senior vice president for administration Arnaldo Cuasi will face the panel Thursday to testify on the job description, salaries, perks and privileges of Vasquez’s two daughters, Maria Ruth and Agnes, his sister, Leonora “Lenny” de Jesus, and niece Louisa Hernandez. CA Associate Justice Vicente Roxas had earlier said that having relatives in the GSIS proved Vasquez’s “greater interest” in the case involving the state pension fund and the Lopez-owned Manila Electric Co. (Meralco). During Tuesday’s hearing, Roxas said Vasquez’s interest in the case showed when he ruled that it was the court’s Special 9th Decision which should handle the case and not the 8th Division. The ruling came out on June 24, a day after the 8th Division, of which Roxas was a member, promulgated the said case. Roxas claimed Vasquez issued the decision "to taint the members of the 8th Division." Cuasi’s testimony was sought by Vitaliano Aguirre II, counsel for CA Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes, whose chairmanship of the 8th Division was being questioned by Justice Jose Sabio Jr, the acting chair of the Special 9th Division when Reyes was on leave. The court's 8th Division granted the Lopezes’ position in the Meralco-GSIS proxy war. Retired justice Carolina Grino-Aquino, the chairman of the panel, said Cuasi’s testimony is important considering that it will shed light on the propriety of Vasquez’s failure to inhibit himself in ruling as to who between Reyes and Sabio should handle the Meralco case. Meanwhile, Chief Justice Reynato Puno has approved the request of the three-man panel to extend until September 4 the submission of its report and recommendation, to give way to the evaluation of the testimony of other witnesses and resource persons. The panel, chaired by Aquino with retired justices Flerida Ruth Romero and Romeo Callejo Sr as members, originally was given until today, August 21, to complete its investigation in the alleged bribery and other irregularities in the CA in connection with the Meralco corporate ownership case. - GMANews.TV