Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo has resigned. His resignation will take effect April 1, reports reaching GMA News on Tuesday evening said. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez confirmed the information. He said he talked with Benipayo on Monday night and learned of the solicitor general’s plan. “He told me he was resigning. He said he wanted to go back to private life," Gonzalez said. Benipayo’s office staff told the media the solicitor general was in a meeting. Benipayo did not issue any statement as of posting time. The staff said Benipayo would probably break his silence Wednesday. Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said he was trying to confirm the report. He said he was surprised upon learning about Benipayo’s resignation. Defensor was with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Cebu on Tuesday. He believes Benipayo’s resignation has nothing to do with President Arroyo’s state of emergency declaration. Gonzalez earlier said Benipayo "failed miserably" in defending the state of national emergency declaration during oral arguments in the Supreme Court last week. BENIPAYO GRILLED The Supreme Court last week grilled Benipayo over his arguments defending Proclamation 1017. Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban said he understood the arguments of those opposed to Proclamation 1017, but said he “could not catch" the government’s basis in declaring a state of national emergency. Panganiban told Benipayo: “I could not catch your theory, the fact that you were answering questions to please the justices more than to defend Proclamation 1017." Panganiban noted some conflicts in Benipayo’s offered reasons behind the weeklong emergency rule. Associate Justice Reynato Puno also questioned Benipayo about the validity of the raid on the Daily Tribune office after President Arroyo declared a state of emergency on February 24. Benipayo, the government’s counsel, admitted the raid was done without a search warrant. “Why do you have to go there at 1 a.m. without a warrant when all they have to do is to get past issues?" Puno asked Benipayo. Puno also asked Benipayo about the findings on the arrests of University of the Philippines professor Randy David and Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran. Puno noted that since Beltran had been accused of conspiring with the New People’s Army since 2003, a complaint should have been filed much earlier. Associate Justice Romeo Callejo wondered why Beltran was arrested for inciting to sedition “but was inquested for rebellion." "That's queer," Callejo said. “I am at a loss here." Benipayo said Beltran was charged with two charges of rebellion. "Why was he charged with two charges of rebellion when rebellion is a continuing crime?" Callejo asked. "I don't know," Benipayo answered. NOT THE FIRST TIME Last week was not Benipayo’s first encounter with the Supreme Court justices. On February 21, the justices also grilled Benipayo over Executive Order No. 464 that prevents members of the executive department from appearing in any legislative investigation without the consent of the President. “I am bothered by your proposition that the President need not give any reason in invoking executive privilege," Associate Justice Puno told Benipayo. Puno asked Benipayo if he could name any US president who exercised executive privilege without giving reason why he did so. “I am not aware of any," Benipayo said. Benipayo could not also provide any legal argument to contest Senator Joker Arroyo’s contention that EO 464 prevented lawmakers from exercising their legislative power. “Please study it well," Chief Justice Panganiban reminded Benipayo. CONTROVERSIAL CASES Benipayo defended the government in several controversial cases, the last being Proclamation 1017. He won the government's case on the expanded value added tax last year when the Supreme Court declared the law constitutional. Benipayo was the one who revealed to the Senate that the Comelec’s automated counting machines were overpriced by more than P500 million. Benipayo said the bank transfer documents he obtained showed that while Comelec gave P1.2 billion to MegaPacific, it paid only P500 million to its Korean supplier. It was also Benipayo who said the late presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. was not a natural-born Filipino. “Respondent Poe cannot be called a natural-born Filipino," Benipayo told the Supreme Court. "He can be called naturalized at best," he said. In 2004, Benipayo said the government has no plan to take over the controversy-laden Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The government “is not inclined to acquire" NAIA-3, contrary to what is contained in [Philippine International Air Terminals Co.]’s “misleading press releases through its well-oiled public relations machinery," Benipayo said in 2004. The government later took over the facility. WHO IS BENIPAYO? Benipayo, who was then chairman of the Comelec, replaced Simeon Marcelo as solicitor general after Mrs. Arroyo named Marcelo ombudsman. Benipayo’s appointment as solicitor general was based on the recommendations of a search committee, a Palace statement announcing his appointment said. Before he was Comelec chairman, Benipayo was Supreme Court administrator. Benipayo was a regional trial court judge in Manila from 1983 to 1987 and later associate justice of the Court of Appeals for nine years. He started serving in the judiciary in 1974 as district judge and vice-executive judge of the Court of First Instance in Malolos, Bulacan. In 1976, he became district judge of the CFI in Manila. He was also an associate professor in the Faculty of Civil Law at the University of Santo Tomas. He finished his law studies in UST and graduated cum laude in 1962 and was accepted to the Philippine bar in 1963. In 2004, reports said Benipayo wanted to resign after Mrs. Arroyo appointed a younger nominee to the Supreme Court. Reports said Benipayo had wanted to be an associate justice for the Supreme Court and vied for the position several times. Although he was often included in the short list, he was never chosen for the post. Benipayo served as a Manila regional trial court judge, Court of Appeals associate justice and court administrator. Reports said Benipayo incurred Malacañang's displeasure when he supported opposition Senator Edgardo Angara who assailed a Comelec ruling that recognized the late Fernando Poe Jr. and Senator Panfilo Lacson as presidential candidates of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino in the 2004 election. Angara is head of the LDP. Sources also said Benipayo was feeling pressured by Malacañang's alleged meddling in some of his cases. – GMANews.TV, with reports from INQ7.net
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