DOJ biased against Torres

By: Joel M. Sy, EGCO assignments editor

A DEPARTMENT of Justice (DOJ) fact-finding report that recommended slapping of administrative sanctions against Land Transportation Office chief Virginia Torres lacked very important inputs that would have otherwise justified the presence of the embattled LTO official during a botched takeover of Stradcom Corp. last December by the group of Bonifacio Sumbilla.
“Notwithstanding the DOJ recommendation, it ignored a January 18, 2011 order by the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City that held that neither the Cezar Quiambao nor the Sumbilla group can claim absolute authority to exercise the corporate powers of Stradcom,” said Assistant Solicitor General Renan Ramos during an exclusive interview with The Manila Times.
At best, Ramos stressed, the DOJ recommendation only “gave premium to the claims of the Quiambao group.”
Also, a sworn affidavit by Aristotle Batuhan, the undersecretary for legal affairs, administration, finance and comptrollership of the Department of Transportation and Communications, indicated that Torres was specifically instructed by DOTC officials to personally ensure that the LTO-owned computer database should remain safe and secure to preserve its integrity.
Torres’ presence at the Stradcom building was required by her superiors at DOTC who, ironically, wanted her punished for obeying such order.
According to Batuhan, he received a telephone call from de Jesus at 6:30 a.m. of December 9, 2010 informing him about the ongoing commotion at the LTO.
He said that he immediately called Torres who relayed to him that there were, in fact, a number of armed private security personnel who succeeded in taking control and possession of the LTO-Stradcom building.
“I gave specific instructions to (Assistant Secretary Virginia) Torres not to allow the entry of any unauthorized individual inside the computer database room and the IT (Information Technology) Facility and to immediately ask for the assistance of police authorities should the circumstances warrant the same,” Batuhan wrote in his January 20, 2011 affidavit, a copy of which was obtained by The Times.
“We (DOTC secretary and undersecretaries) pursued to conduct our Executive Committee (Execom) meeting that same day while continuously monitoring the situation by communicating with (Torres) and other LTO officials,” he said.
In fact, Batuhan added, it was Torres herself who suggested to defuse the tension and end the chaos by meeting with the contending factions at the conference room inside the LTO compound.
Torres “suggested that we talk at her office and also informed us that there is an official from the (Office of Solicitor General) who she allegedly summoned to assist in the legal aspect of the problem,” his affidavit read.
According to Ramos, the recommendation of the DOJ fact-finding committee failed to include all these. As it was, the DOJ panel headed by Undersecretary Francisco Baraan 3rd said that Torres should “be administratively charged with gross neglect of duty, or gross incompetence, or in the alternative, with grave misconduct” in connection with the failed takeover.
The report did not touch on the intra-corporate dispute brewing in the LTO’s information technology service provider between the Quiambao and Sumbilla groups.
Despite Batuhan’s own admission and the OSG’s legal opinion on the propriety of Torres’ actions, resigned DOTC Secretary Jose de Jesus requested the Justice department to conduct a probe of the incident.
Results leaked
It was Justice Secretary Leila de Lima who disclosed that the DOTC leaked results of the Baraan panel’s probe to the media.
“I think it was the DOTC (that) released the report to media and that was also the reason why the Office of the President (OP)-Malacanang asked also for a copy of that fact-finding report,” de Lima said during a previous interview.
The DOJ report was transmitted to the OP in March.
Ramos said that if they would be asked by the Office of the President to comment on the DOJ report, they would make a more complete one.
“It (DOJ) report is still subject to the review of the OP. The LTO can present new evidence and if we will be asked by the President to comment on it, we shall do so,” he added.
On February 15, twelve (12) government lawyers headed by Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz informed Torres that on the issue of non-payment of claims being sought by both Stradcom claimant-groups, the LTO took a rightful stand.
“The LTO, in instituting the (interpleader) case, is not siding with any of the contending parties. Neither is it in collusion with any of the personalities mentioned in the (Stradcom) letter. Rather, it is merely protecting public interest by ensuring that the much-needed service continue and that public funds be paid to whom (they are) lawfully due,” the letter, signed by Cadiz and 11 other government lawyers, said.
On December 9, 2010, the group of Stradcom shareholder Bonifacio Sumbilla with the help of police officers took over the Stradcom building inside the LTO compound in Quezon City, insisting that they were the new set of officers of the IT firm.
The incident disrupted LTO operations nationwide, prompting the DOTC-LTO to temporarily take control of the IT systems.
On January 20, 2011, the transportation office received a demand letter from the Quiambao faction of Stradcom for the payment of outstanding receivables of computer fees in the amount of more than P662 million.
A similar demand letter was received by LTO on January 27, 2011, this time from the Sumbilla group.
This prompted the LTO chief to seek legal advice from the OSG on separate occasions—February 18, March 15 and March 24, 201—regarding Stradcom Corp.’s claim for payment.
Torres took the position that no such payment should be made until Stradcom’s ownership has been resolved.
For her refusal, Torres was sued by the Quiambao group, which also threatened to hold her liable for the unpaid fees.
Subsequently, the Sumbilla group instituted a petition dated January 5, 2011 against LTO before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City for the issuance of an interim measure of protection which, in the end, was denied by the court.

Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/news/topstories/doj-biased-against-torres/
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