Initial probe report on judiciary ‘fixers’ now with SC

An initial report on the supposed influence-peddling in the judiciary led by a certain Ma'am Arlene is already with the Supreme Court.

SC Public Information Office chief Theodore Te on Tuesday said the three-member committee created by the SC to investigate the matter submitted its report last May 29.

“The court is still studying the initial report,” said Te in a media briefing.

The panel is chaired by SC Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, with retired SC Associate Justice Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez and Romeo J. Callejo as members.

Te said apart from inquiring into allegations of influence-peddling by a certain “Ma'am Arlene,” the investigating panel also looked into the controversy surrounding the recent elections of the Philippine Judges Association.

The investigating panel had earlier invited one of the alleged "fixers" previously known only as a certain "Ma'am Arlene," later identified as Arlene Angeles Lerma, to help shed light on the controversy.

"Ma'am Arlene,” described in earlier news reports as the judiciary's version of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, first came into national consciousness through Jarius Bondoc's column in the Philippine Star last year.

According to Bondoc's column, "Ma'am Arlene" throws birthday parties for appellate court justices and trial court judges and finances their family trips abroad, among other things, in exchange for their favors in cases.

But last year, the Bureau of Immigration confirmed that Lerma had already left the country for Singapore. She reportedly did not purchase a return ticket.

The SC body earlier held numerous sessions and received sworn testimonies from more than 30 resource persons, among them members of the judiciary and Supreme Court officials and employees, and other government officials.

The committee also said it gathered both from official and unofficial sources many documents, photographs, and reports as well as information and tips on the matter.

The committee proceedings were confidential “to allow greater freedom on the part of resource persons to speak and to give the committee members the flexibility to probe more deeply,” an earlier statement by the SC PIO said.

Previous reports said there are at least three notorious fixers working in the judiciary, one of them allegedly a clerk of court at the Court of Appeals while another was supposed to have previously worked in Malacañang. The third, meanwhile, is reportedly an “influential figure” at the Manila City Hall. —KBK, GMA News