Falling short

It certainly throws a damper on the trumpeted moves to institute reforms in the judiciary in light of the findings that have already led to the sacking of one appellate justice.

Most surprising was the panel's decision to stop digging for the truth when the name of lawyer Jess Santos, who happens to be the legal counsel and spokesman for Jose Miguel Arroyo, was implicated in the controversy. Santos got dragged into the legal fray after Presidential Commission on Good Government chief Camilo Sabio testified before the SC investigating panel that he received a call from Santos seeking help to influence his brother Justice Jose Sabio Jr. on the Meralco-GSIS case.

The implication of Santos was potentially big considering that he was not only a GSIS director but also has powerful connections with Malacañang. At the very least, it points to a serious impropriety on the part of the GSIS as one of its directors was actually lobbying with the appellate court. Worse, it bolsters suspicions that very powerful personalities in this administration are behind the furnace treatment that Meralco is getting from the government including the failed takeover bid led by GSIS.

There are also moves for a government audit of Meralco despite the fact that it is not only a private company but also a publicly-listed one. It is obliged to go through the gauntlet of stringent regulatory requirements that goes with having itself traded in the local stock market. Meralco has to file so many reports and disclosure statements as it is.

If anything, the government audit will only scare away investors since it only demonstrates how callous the government can get against legitimate companies doing business here, especially when they become the targets of a hostile takeover bid.

If the justification of the audit is the government's Meralco holdings, then why single out the distribution utility? It is public knowledge that the government has equally extensive holdings in other private corporations such as San Miguel Corp., but you never hear of the Commission on Audit (COA) being let loose on them. It does not make sense to subject only Meralco to this requirement even granting the move is legal to begin with.

The request for the audit originates from a shadow group whose sole reason for being seems to be Meralco-bashing. And the audit order comes from the Energy Regulatory Commission whose newly-appointed chairman is a former Pampanga Rep. and known presidential ally Zenaida Ducut. There is also the filing of the syndicated estafa charges against Meralco officials made by the same group that requested the COA audit by the Department of Justice with the Pasig City regional trial court.

Only the SC investigating panel knows why it stopped its probe once the name of Santos was dragged into the matter. The least that should have been done was to summon Santos to explain his side and afford him the chance to clear himself, as well as the GSIS and the FG, of the damaging allegations made by Sabio that he himself confirmed to be true.

Not surprisingly, all we are left now is a half-baked SC resolution tainting a lot of those implicated in the controversy but did not even touch on the merits in the controversial CA decision on the Meralco-GSIS legal tiff. One can only wonder why the ponente of the CA decision, Associate Justice Vicente Roxas, got axed while Sabio got off relatively easy, a two-month suspension without pay.

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Erratum: Former Maritime Industry Authority chairman Vicente Suazo Jr. was formerly assistant general manager of the Philippine Ports Authority and was not with the Aboitiz Group as we previously wrote in our column last September 8, 2008. Before being appointed as Marina chief, Suazo also became president of the Harbour Centre Port Terminals Inc.