Justices tag Trillanes for harassment, deny P50-M bribery in Junjun Binay’s case

By MARK MERUEÑAS and ELIZABETH MARCELO, GMA News

Published April 13, 2015 4:07pm

Court of Appeals justices Jose Reyes Jr. and Francisco Acosta on Monday denied Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV's allegations that they each received P25 million in exchange for the CA 6th Division's release of a temporary restraining order on the Ombudsman's suspension of Makati Mayor Junjun Binay.

In separate statements, Reyes and Acosta accused Trillanes of trying to intimidate the members of the judiciary through harassment.

"The TRO and preliminary injunction were issued by the 6th Division of the Court of Appeals, acting as a collegiate body, after observing a meticulous, impartial and judicious evaluation of prevailing laws, jurisprudence and evidence presented by the parties," Reyes said.

"Baseless accusations constitute harassment that seek to threaten magistrates in our bounden duty to discharge justice based on fairness, impartiality and the rule of law, and undermines the integrity of the judiciary as an institution and weakens the people's faith in our legal processes," he added.

Reyes said the judiciary must be "insulated from partisan politics," stressing that the CA dispensed justice based on the rule of law and established evidence.

Acosta, chairman of the CA Sixth Division, dismissed Trillanes' allegation as “baseless”.

In report of Cecile Villarosa on GMA Radyo DZBB, Acosta was quoted as saying that the court ruled on Binay's TRO petition as well as on the preliminary injunction based on the rule of law and on the evidence presented to the court.

Acosta said that the court's decision was always “collegial” and not based on the decision of only one or two members.

He added that Trillanes' baseless allegation could be considered “a form of harassment” meant to intimidate the members of an independent institution such as the judiciary.

Acosta also called on Trillanes to be more prudent in issuing statements that might destroy the public's trust in the judiciary as the collapse of the people's trust in the country's justice system can have serious implications.

In a resolution calling for a Senate probe on the alleged “justice for sale” system at the CA, Trillanes cited “reliable sources privy to the matter” in alleging that Reyes and Acosta each received P25-million bribes to stop Binay’s suspension on March 16.

Trillanes also accused the two CA justices of receiving an additional P5 million each upon the subsequent issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction to stop Binay’s suspension indefinitely.

The senator said these “transactions” were allegedly facilitated by lawyer Pancho Villaraza, who is supposedly supporting the presidential campaign of Vice President Jejomar Binay, Mayor Binay’s father.

Junjun Binay was preventively suspended over allegations of overpricing in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II. The CA initially issued a 60-day TRO, then eventually came out with an indefinite writ of preliminary injunction against the suspension. —NB, GMA News

Tags: junjunbinaysuspension, courtofappeals, antoniotrillanesiv