THOUGH I wasn't surprised on reading a news story on case fixing in Cagayan de Oro, I was shocked when I read that Genard Abejo was arrested by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
Abejo, who gave me insider information on potential scoops during my days in the local media, is now the subject of unfavorable news to him and it is bad news indeed.
Let me be clear about it, I was surprised to see Genard's photo on Cagayan de Oro's papers. What happened exactly I don’t know but it looked like his arrest opened a pandora's box at the City Fiscals office.
But this conversation about case fixing is not new it has been going around the corners of Cagayan de Oro City's Hall of Justice before.
Only this was not reported or if it was reported it was just mentioned in whispers by brave souls among themselves and died a natural death.
Those engaged in case fixing should have been found guilty a long time ago in the minds of those who are in the know on what is going around.
What did happen is a troubling development given the call of the Duterte administration about cleansing the bureaucracy of corruption--this systemic venality that had festered for so long and is eating away at the whole structure.
I likened corruption to cancer that had slowly metastasized in one's body and not even chemotherapy could help the white cells fight it off. I thought that those government employees engaged in corruption were scared by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's warnings of sanctions but apparently they were not.
In fact the corruption had worsened and became so brazen that it's being treated as an enterprise, with more government employees becoming savvy and efficient in their corruption.
I am not saying that Genard is guilty of corruption for this is not the Genard I knew in the past. As far as I know, these allegations of case fixing remain unproven and Genard is still innocent until proven guilty.
It is up to the prosecution through the CIDG to examine all the evidence necessary to prove Genard guilty beyond doubt in the extortion case.
Allow me to share you my experiences. Back in the old days before I joined the media industry in Cagayan de Oro, I worked at the Tagoloan-Villanueva Court and transferred to City Court.
As a law student I befriended many employees at the City Fiscal Office since the office and the City Court were still at Cagayan de Oro City Hall.
Employees knew each other. I’ve been hearing a lot about how this prosecutor or that judge is corrupt and can be bought. In fact names were mentioned by the staffs and the judges themselves.
Yes, they talk and made known what is happening inside the court room to friends outside. That is why even the fiscals who were later named prosecutors were dubbed as “Fixcal”, for their willingness to fix cases for a price.
There were talks about the case fixing at the judiciary and the court personnel can name judges who ask lawyers with pending cases in their courts for gifts.
Usually there is someone in that office who is in charge of that operation. In this case Genard is allegedly the negotiator and bagman. If the allegations are true, Gennot could not have acted by himself without the go signal.
Still that is only one of the many scenarios in that office. The corruption through case fixing is rampant and Abejo is just one of the many victims if his innocence is proven beyond reasonable doubt.
My theory is that he negotiates with either the complainant or respondent to fix their pending case or the preliminary investigation for the filing in court or for dismissal.
A friend of mine in court who refused to be named after I asked him about Genard had this to say.
“This has been the practice a long time ago. This is just a tip of the iceberg in that office. It is interesting that among the items taken from the possession of Abejo was a draft of the resolution. Every fiscal is one clerk who I assume is in charge of the dictation for resolution. Why he was in possession of that is not surprising except he is in cahoots of many,” he said.
This was rampant even before the time of former justice secretary Leila de Lima. In fact I can still remember that these issues were raised at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) years ago, but nothing came out of it. I forgot the lawyer who told me about this.
When the late Regional Trial Judge Noli Catli was still at the City Fiscal's Office when it was still based at City Hall, prosecutors/fiscals commanded respect and gossip about them was non-existent.
Catli and the rest of the gang were very careful about the image they project to the public.
I can remember of course Fiscal Longino Tagarda who was very cautious also and was really the epitome of what a fiscal is all about. I just wondered why he never become the chief prosecutor.
Even the judges at the City Court were circumspect. I can only recall Judges Gentiles and Orcullo who would not allow any party or lawyers who have pending cases in their living room to enter their offices.
Well, he might be exonerated in his robbery extortion case but my God, I don't know if Genard will be cleared of corruption charges.
The Anti-Graft law is the most important anti-corruption law in the country but sad to say, not much attention had been given on it nor did it scare government employees or officials into submission.
Foremost the law penalizes not only the acts or omissions. It penalizes the commission of these acts as defined by law and not the character or effect that determines violation.
What is violated is public trust. Now with the pictures of Genard all over the news his face is now the face of the city prosecutors. Even if later he is acquitted or the case is dropped, the reputation of prosecutors had been tainted already.
Every case dismissed or filed at the City Prosecutor’s Office would be subjected to complaints by the losing party who will claim that it was fixed. And who can blame them.
It behooves upon the prosecution investigating this case to save their image now that gaping cracks caused by corruption charges had fractured their ranks. Good luck City Prosecutor’s Office.
