P.S. In the beginning of the CA scandal, PDI actually seemed to be in favor of Sabio even writing articles in testimony for his integrity. I guess somewhere in between that and today’s editorial, some bribing happened. In any case, this is just my observation.

If you want to know why the Philippine Government is corrupt, tell me and I’ll expose here my thoughts. You will be surprised how easily we have corrupted our own government. I’ll wait for your invitation.

@ Bencard, you are right. The matter should have been brought before the PJ or S.C. authorities and Sabio should have waited for them to act on it before going to the press. But that’s the pattern now. Unahan sa media. Whoever gets his version of events out first draws first blood in the war to win public opinion.

@RJ, I admire your courage and integrity, ‘panero. I too come from a lawyering family and my dad (at least from what I know) and my grandfather never paid a single centavo to bribe a judge. Now it seems to be the norm.

Believe it or not, there are still a few close friends of mine who refuse to play the game and will slug it out on the merits. And they have successful practices, too. The best approach is still preparation, preparation and further preparation. At the very least, if you present and substantiate solid arguments, you give the crooked judge or arbiter a hard time in drafting a decision against you. And you lay a good foundation for appeal.

But the fact that there is a dirty underbelly to law practice in the country cannot be denied. And it goes all the way to the top. Sometimes, I too despair about this sad state of affairs but hearing from someone like you makes me believe there might still be hope for our profession. Thanks for the insightful and honest comments.

I onced worked for a 15 lawyer Makati firm, I quit after the partner asked me to deliver money to the fiscal. I transferred to the office of a friend (who graduated from the number 2 law school in the country) who I found out later that he was bribing several labor arbiters to win cases. I even dated a former bar topnotcher who’s presently a partner in the second biggest firm in the Philippines f(the one founded by Marcos cronies), whom when I asked if she was familiar with bribery within the practice chose to bury her head and denied she ever knew any. It’s truly amazing. If a bartopnotcher can deny it exists, I guess I’ll be expecting too much from others below her intellectual caiber. Maybe one’s character is not measured by intellect but by one’s sense of morality.

I became a lawyer because I hate crime and here I was lawyering in the midst of it. Is this what legal profession in our country has gone to? If lawyers commit crimes (e.g. bribery, obstruction of justice) to win cases can we blame bank robbers for robbing banks? Whether the crime is white collar or blue collar, justice being blind, does not and should not distinguish.

I long for the days when my grandfather practiced law where delicadeza was pretty much the norm and integrity was the lawyer’s capital. There were two political parties then. The voters seemed to know how to chose the most qualified leaders. And leaders seem to know what’s best for the country. Now with a defective multiparty system founded on a culture of corruption, the fact that the polls are showing an inexperienced, deficiently educated broadcast media personality, seconded by a convicted felon ex-President shows that the mentality of the Philippine voting public is disturbingly very low. It probably doesn’t matter that much if the country is doing well. But to elect an incompetent or a criminal in the midst of a global crisis is like shooting oneself in the foot. The educated class, except for a few, has become dangerously indifferent and would rather take a vacation out of the country than vote in the elections. Then they have the gall to curse the elected.

We can’t seem to enforce our laws. And the people who are duty bound to enforce them are helping themselves to the little money that should have been spent to educate, heal and improve the lives of our people.

What happened to the rule of law (no one is above the law)? I guess in the Philippines some are above it by committing crimes with impunity. Our society has become a hypocrital system that has two standards: one for those who have money and power and another for the those who have not. We see petty thieves on TV being mauled by the community, but the bigger thieves in government are spitting at people’s faces with their lies and cover-ups. They strut around with their stupid sense of entitlement. You see them abroad, living in huge homes, able to send their children to schools abroad, riding in luxurious vehicles when they clearly could not afford them with their legitimate incomes. Nevermind millions of Filipinos have to work abroad and are far from their families. Nevermind, there are children beggars walking barefoot in the streets. Nevermind people are living under bridges and earning less than $2 a day. Nevermind our population is exploding and making the country poorer. So long as they can buy their Expeditions and build their mansions, it appears that everyone is fine with it. Thank God hell exists.

it seems that in the philippines, the first trial of a criminal case involving important personalities occurs in the media where no accused survives unscathed. the effect on the accused, or the institution involved, is instantaneous.

the law on perjury, defamation and malicious prosecution (false reporting of a crime) must be strengthened and vigorously enforced.

3. The deal failed because both parties failed to agree on the exchange. Malayo ang 10m sa SC position plus little money and 50m.

4. Both parties seem to corroborate that there was a bribery but it did not push through because of the wide disparity in exchange value.
5. justice sabio’s integrity and credibility would have been strengthened if he reported the bribery to PJ Vasquez immediately after the event of bribery took place on july 1 and he(justice sabio) did not wait for the 8th division decision on july 24.
6. Justice sabio is not entirely clean because he never took any action to ward off the sttempt to bribe him. He was turned off because he was remove from the judicial processd but not the ongoing bribery attempt that subverts the process.