The Criminal Lawyer

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

 

THE LAWYER-CRIMINALS

In a television talk show hosted by yours truly at Hotel Del Rio last Saturday, Novenber 8, 2014, a popular criminal lawyer Atty. Romeo Gerochi was the resource speaker. We are joined by co-hosts of the program Joel Estochi and come-backing partner Ompoy Pastrana.

The lawyer disclosed his resentment over the selective approach to prosecution of the Office of the Ombudsman. I subscribed to his findings. I am also disgusted with the deliberate injustice committed by this office as every time we expect a speedy result, we always end up badly disillusioned.

Atty. Gerochi cited the case of the Pavia Housing Project of the Iloilo City government. It was a commendable-project but resulted into a white-elephant. The P137M for the construction of 413 units of low-cost houses for the poor City Hall employees in 2001, ended in 2009 without even a unit completed.

Thus, he filed a case for violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) against then Mayor (now Cong. Jerry Trenas) and other City Hall officials involved, including the contractor Alex Trinidad in 2004. It was followed by complaints of two city councilors on the same ground. They are Atty. Raul Gonzalez, Jr. and Atty. Antonio Pesina.

But the case that has consumed the city for years seems not good for the Ombudsman. Until 2009, the end of Mayor Trenas’ term, nothing has been heard about the case. Never has there been a government office so derelict and irresolute in performance of duty than the office of the Ombudsman. For that, Atty. Gerochi called this office of then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez as the Office of Monalisa.

For the information of young readers, Monalisa is a legendary painting obsessed by many men who were bewitched by her beauty. As a song goes; “many dreams had been brought to your doorstep, they just lie there and they die there.” This transfigures the many cases filed in the Ombudsman’s Office that seem to die in the course of time.

After years of dilly-dallying, Ombudsman Monalis… ehe, este Gutierrez resigned for fear of impeachment. The case was immediately resolved by the hoping-in-vain Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro by indicting former Mayor Mansueto Malabor who just signed the contract but ordered the Visayas Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol to further probe Trenas and wards for probable cause.

My goodness, even a fish vendor can ascertain that the unauthorized payment of Trenas to the contractor is embraced in RA 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Worse, his deliberate defiance to the two urgent resolutions of the city council to rescind the contract and sue the contractor to protect the taxpayers’ money were ignored while continue paying the errant contractor!

But on November 11, 2012, the newly installed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approve the recommendation of her people in the Pavia Housing case. The information accusing Jerry P. Trenas, Melchor Tan, Edwin Bravo, Catherine Tingson and Alex Trinidad for violation of Sec. 3 Par (e) of R.A. 3019 rested this way;

That; the case against them for causing the release of P43,807,733.33 for construction works of the ICHP in Pavia, Iloilo, despite reports that substandard materials were used in the project, defects, deficiencies and lapses in the works were NOTED, is hereby “SET ASIDE.”

SET ASIDE and nothing follows? The lawyers who recommend this for signing of the irresolute heir of Monalisa certainly knew they violated the speedy disposition of justice in accord with the rule of law. They put the case in suspended animation – hanging in the air. This is a concept of justice at odds with due process. They are lawyers who are already in the pot but jumped into the fire!

Worse, when Atty. Gerochi asked Mayor Jed Mabilog to take action against the contractor for recovery of the taxpayers’ money, his legal officer willfully filed a case against Alex Trinidad. But curse of Maria Labo’, the complaint against Trinidad has no claim for damages. This is not what we think a lawyer’s business is all about!

I never give public officials hell, but when I write about corruption, they feel the heat. Whatever result it may bring, the Pavia Housing mess is a story that won’t go away. And we perceived its end-game as niceties of court battles of criminal-lawyers vs lawyer-criminals in the government. As in Latin, “si vis pacem, para bellum “ –if you want peace be prepared for war.