MANILA — Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Sereno on Thursday belied the accusations of Eligio Mallari, a lawyer allied with the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) in connection with the delay in resolving the pending case involving the Philippine National Bank (PNB) and two parcels of land in San Fernando, Pampanga.
“Atty. Mallari claims that the case has been pending for 37 years. This is untrue. There have already been three decisions by the Supreme Court on these parcels of land, all of which are entitled ‘Spouses Mallari vs. PNB’: G.R. no. 61093, decided on May 25, 1988, G.R. no. 106615 on March 20, 2002 and reversed on January 15, 2004,” Sereno said in statement.
On another case related to the parcels of land and new issues raised before the SC in year 2013 (G.R. no. 204743), Sereno said the case was initially raffled off to the First Division but later, as a result of the movement caused by retirements of personnel, it was transferred back and forth the First Division and Third Division, and back to the First Division in the latter part of 2017.
The case is now with the First Division, which is chaired by Sereno with Associate Justice Teresita De Castro as the working chairperson.
She said there is insufficient basis to accuse the First Division of causing undue delay.
“Atty. Mallari should know very well that the Supreme Court is a collegial and deliberative body which adjudicates en banc or in division,” Sereno said.
“We advise Atty. Mallari and the public to thoroughly verify the facts before coming to any conclusion regarding cases. After all, a precondition to justice is the truth,” she added. (PNA)
