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Sandiganbayan judge accused of 'favoritism,' running court like 'Sereno'

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - A group of concerned Sandiganbayan employees have accused Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang of &quot;favoritism&quot; and of running the court like ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.Judicial and Bar Council member Atty. Milagros Fernan-Cayosa informed Cabotaje-Tang of the letter-complaint on Wednesday during the JBC&#x27;s public panel interview of applicants vying for the Supreme Court associate justice post to replace Justice Noel Tijam.Tijam is set to retire in January 2019.According to Cayosa, the letter-complaint accused Cabotaje-Tang of playing favorites when she gave a retirement party to a retiring clerk-of-court. The letter, addressed to the JBC, was dated March 5, 2018, long before she applied for the SC post.Cabotaje-Tang denied playing favorites, saying the decision to hold a retirement party was not hers alone but that of a committee.&quot;[S]ince it was the executive clerk of court IV who was retiring, the committee which I chaired decided to tender a retirement party for him. Given the length of time that he has served the court, I think more than 25 or 30 years, the committee felt that it was a tribute, owing to the retiring employee,&quot; she said.&quot;We actually have rules on retirement, rules regarding hosting of parties regarding retiring employees,&quot; she added.Another JBC member, retired Judge Toribio Ilao, Jr., read a portion of the complaint: &quot;Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotage-Tang who runs the affairs of the anti-graft court like her idol Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.&quot;Sereno had been accused of not seeking the consent of her colleagues in making various decisions.But the SB presiding justice rejected the allegation.&quot;I doubt whether this letter really came from the employees of the Sandiganbayan, because no less than the Sandiganbayan Employees&#x27; Association (SEA) came up with the disclaimer, which I attached to my comment repudiating and disowning this letter, your honor,&quot; she said.She also revealed that a similar complaint, also dated March 5, 2018, had reached the SC and had been dismissed after she filed her comment.Among the acts attributed to Cabotaje-Tang: causing the painting of the SB building, hiring blue guards, and ignoring the reimbursement of expenses in the retirement ceremony of a justice, all allegedly without authority of the court en banc.In a resolution dated July 17, 2018, a copy of which Cabotaje-Tang furnished the media on Wednesday, the SC dismissed the letter-complaint for being unverified and for having no supporting documents.The Court also doubted the identity of the purported complainant, citing a letter from SEA denying the complaint came from them and that a certain Rudy Antonio, the alleged sender of the complaint, is a member of the group.Cabotaje-Tang, who is one of 19 candidates for the SC associate justice post, did not discount the possibility of having disgruntled personnel within her court.&quot;Maybe there are some or one disgruntled person in the court. But as they say, you cannot please everyone,&quot; she said.

A group of concerned Sandiganbayan employees have accused Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang of "favoritism" and of running the court like ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

A group of concerned Sandiganbayan employees have accused Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang of "favoritism" and of running the court like ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Sandiganbayan judge accused of 'favoritism,' running court like 'Sereno'

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Sandiganbayan judge accused of 'favoritism,' running court like 'Sereno'

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 05, 2018 07:12 PM PHT

Read More:

Amparo Cabotaje-Tang

Sandiganbayan

favoritism

Maria Lourdes Sereno

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