By Perry Diaz
But the prosecutors defied Agra’s order to clear and release the two suspects saying,“it dishonors the institution’s mandate to dispense justice.” In response, Agra arrogantly threatened to remove them from the case and appoint another prosecutor who would follow his order.
In an apparent approval of Agra’s controversial decision, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was quiet about it. Agra said, “In this case silence means approval unless there’s an explicit directive to resign or report. I like to think I did nothing wrong for her to berate, rebuff or replace me.” Self-glorifying, self-absolving. There is a term for that: arrogance of power.
Agra reasoned that Zaldy had an alibi that placed him somewhere else. Actually, on the day of the massacre, Zaldy was in Malacañang -- the Ampatuans are political allies of President Gloria Arroyo -- conferring with Arroyo’s political staff. However, Harry Roque, lawyer for most of the journalists killed in the massacre, said, “Alibi is the weakest form of defense.”
Zaldy could have participated in planning the mass murder days or weeks before it happened. And the prosecution had presented witnesses and signed affidavits naming Zaldy as one of the masterminds. It is not uncommon in political assassinations for the mastermind to be far away while hired killers do the job. It’s the “perfect alibi” unless it can be proven with incontrovertible proof and compelling evidence. And the prosecutors have the “ammunition” to blow Zaldy’s alibi to smithereens.
Who is Alberto Agra?
Alberto Agra passed the bar in 1991 and taught at the Ateneo de Manila, his alma mater. He served as Arroyo’s lawyer when the House of Representatives tried to impeach her in 2006. In 2007, Arroyo appointed him as head of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.
On January 8, 2010, Arroyo appointed Agra as Solicitor General. On March 3, 2010, Arroyo appointed him acting Secretary of Justice concurrently. As the head of the Justice Department, Agra sits as ex-officio member of the 8-member Judicial Bar Council which is responsible for vetting and preparing the short lists of nominees for judicial appointments by the President. That’s a lot of power vested on one man. He is, without a shadow of doubt, a rabid Arroyo loyalist, who would gleefully execute her orders without question or reservation.
Midnight appointments
It did not come as a big surprise that as soon as Agra was appointed acting Justice Secretary, he didn’t waste any time peddling the notion that the constitution does not ban “midnight appointments” in the Judiciary.
It is interesting to note what Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc wrote in his column a day prior to the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling allowing the President to appoint a “midnight Chief Justice.” Bondoc said: “As if midnight deals were not bad enough, President Arroyo too is coming closer to naming a midnight Chief Justice. That’s if what a braggart at Malacañang is saying is true.
“The showoff claims to have scored at the Supreme Court for Arroyo. Allegedly he has convinced most justices to rule that the constitutional ban on midnight appointments does not apply to the judiciary. This would let Arroyo name a replacement when CJ Reynato Puno retires on May 17.”
Further, he said, “And the boastful Palace operator claims to have clinched it for her. The next step supposedly is to petition the Court to resolve the issue once and for all.”
The following day, by a 9-1 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional ban on midnight appointments does not apply to the Chief Justice. Did Agra have a hand in convincing nine justices to turn a blind eye to the law and give Arroyo her last wish to satisfy their “utang na loob” (debt of gratitude) to Arroyo for bestowing on them the highest honor a magistrate could dream of?
A week ago, the Judicial Bar Council assailed the Supreme Court’s March 17 decision allowing Arroyo to appoint the next Chief Justice during the constitutional ban on midnight appointments. The JBC sent its comment to the High Court signed by seven members. The only member who did not sign the comment was Agra. Instead, Agra, in his capacity as Solicitor General, filed a separate comment “asking the high court to state that the President can appoint all vacancies in the judiciary and not just in the Supreme Court during her final three months in office despite the ban against midnight appointments.”
Now, not only did Agra insist that Arroyo can appoint a midnight Chief Justice, but also she can appoint all vacancies in the judiciary including the one soon to be vacated by retiring Chief Justice Puno. Makes one wonder who Agra had in mind to fill the last seat in the Supreme Court?
With the Supreme Court’s final ruling yesterday, April 20, affirming the President’s power to appoint the next Chief Justice, I wouldn’t be surprised if Agra would be Arroyo’s next Supreme Court appointee. Interestingly, the High Court failed to make a “doctrinal ruling” on whether the exemption to the midnight appointment ban applies only to the Chief Justice or to the entire judiciary. But the fact that the justices did not make a ruling would be enough for Arroyo to insist that she appoint a vacancy as soon as Puno retires. What has she got to lose by doing it?
I am pretty sure that Agra had his eyes wide open for that opening. It would seem that he had been “working” on it from the first day he to took over the Justice department. He has served his master very well and appointment to the High Court would be his if he asked for it. The only thing that would stop him from being appointed to the High Court is if a lawsuit or disbarment petition is filed against him.
Agra’s “aggravated assault”
Agra’s “aggravated assault” on the wheel of justice could be his Achilles heel. What he did in exonerating the Ampatuans is contemptuous, cowardly, and lacking the balanced mind required of those who dispense justice. Agra has dishonored the legal profession and thus should lose his place among the honorable men and women who are entrusted in upholding the law of the land and in protecting the people from criminal elements. Therefore, he should be disbarred from his profession and barred from serving in the government for the rest of his life. The people deserve no less.
(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)Visit www.GlobalBalita.com for more news and updates.
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