The Supreme Court has sustained the ruling issued by the Court of Appeals that perpetually banned former Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chairman Camilo Sabio from holding any public office and forfeiting all his retirement benefits.
The CA found Sabio guilty of grave misconduct for trying to influence his brother, then a CA magistrate, to side with the Government Service Insurance System in its ownership dispute with the Manila Electric Company.
In an 18-page ruling, the SC denied Sabio’s petition for review as the appellate court’s ruling on March 31, 2015 affirmed the Ombudsman’s resolution, which found him guilty of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
The anti-graft body held that Sabio’s attempt to influence the judicial discretion of his brother was a “flagrant disregard of well-known legal and more importantly, ethical rules” which “unduly prejudiced and compromised the image and independence of the judiciary, and government service in general.”