Group asks DOJ, NBI to probe 'justice for sale' in CA
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption has urged the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation) t o pursue an investigation into the "Ma'am Arlene" controversy, following recent reports of "justice for sale" in the Court of Appeals, the GMA News Online reported yesterday.
In a statement over the weekend, VACC founding chairman Dante Jimenez alleged that bribery in the appeals court was not new, and that this was the reason his group had awarded the CA its so-called "Kalabasa Award" twice in the past.
Jimenez urged the CA's clerks of court "who are privy to the illegal transactions not to be afraid and come into the open to expose the anomalies," adding that the VACC "is willing to give them support."
"There are many cases filed by VACC against drug lords, but these were dismissed because the judges were bribed," Jimenez said in GMA News Online.
The VACC's appeal came a week after the Coalition of Filipino Consumers' appeal for an i nvestigation i nto t he supposed "justice for sale" in the j udiciary, i n exchange for temporary restraining orders.
The group said it learned that some members of the Court of Appeals have accepted money from "influential individuals" with pending cases.
"But not all justices are for sale. There are just exceptions," CFC's Jaime Tagalog had said, adding that only few of the justices are tainting the judiciary.
Reacting to the CFC's call, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Malacañang supports calls for Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to probe corruption in the judiciary.
In 2013, De Lima had said the DOJ and the NBI were willing to assist the Supreme Court in investigating t he "Ma'am Arlene" controversy, or even conduct their own parallel probe.
"The chief j ustice has formally requested already that even if iniimbistigahan na rin daw iyan ng Supreme Court... she still wants the NBI to do the investigation, also kasi siyempre wala namang imbestigador ang judiciary," said De Lima in GMA News Online.
"She [ chief j ustice] welcomes my assignment that we would be willing, the DOJ and the NBI would be willing to assist in that investigation," De Lima had added.