SolGen to keep hands off San Miguel cases if appointed as CJ

Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza on Tuesday vowed to distance himself from any case related to the San Miguel Corp., where he was a general counsel for more than a decade.

 

Jardeleza's promise came after he was quizzed about the controversial "Coco Levy Fund" scam during the Judicial and Bar Council's public interviews of the 22 chief justice aspirants.

 

The fund scam started in the 1970s when alleged Marcos cronies including Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco supposedly conspired to tax coconut farmers with the promise of share of investments and the development of the coconut industry.

 

The collections were allegedly used to fund the personal concerns of the Marcos cronies, including the purchase of the Coconut Planters Bank and a majority stake in SMC.

 

"If I am blessed to be chief justice, I will inhibit from all cases involving San Miguel Corp.," Jardeleza said.

 

The 62-year-old solicitor general was general counsel for SMC from Jan. 1, 1996 to June 30, 2010.

 

He was appointed Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon in July 2011, and installed as solicitor-general less than a year later in February 2012.

 

Asked if he had anything to do with the coco levy case, Jardeleza said, "I was never involved in any of those cases... I only read about it from the papers until I became solicitor general. I had to read the decision because the Solicitor-General is involved."

 

Jardeleza noted that as general counsel for San Miguel he never represented Cojuangco in the coco levy case.

 

"I was the lawyer for San Miguel Corp., and San Miguel Corp. was not involved in those cases," he said.

 

"Cojuangco... had his own set of lawyers," he added.

 

In his interview, Jardeleza emphasized the importance of creating harmony with the two other branches of government, namely the executive and the legislative branches.

 

"The role of the court is a passive one, it weighs cases and it does not enforce the law," he said.

 

"As long as the court keeps to its power – keeps to the limits of its duty – then it can coexist with the other branches of government," he added.

 

Asked how he wanted to be remembered by as a chief justice, Jardeleza said, as someone who exhibited rectitude and being judicious."

 

He said the high court should be the "guardian of the rule of law" and that it should "lead by example."

 

Jardeleza also emphasized the importance of making "well-reasoned and well-elaborated decisions because from there springs the power of the court." — VS, GMA News