Luzon ombudsman named new Solgen

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has appointed Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Francis Jardeleza as solicitor general in place of Jose Anselmo Cadiz, who resigned from the post last Friday.

Cadiz officially turned over the post to Jardeleza during the flag-raising ceremony yesterday at the Office of the Solicitor General in Legaspi Village, Makati City.

He said he decided to leave the government because he wanted to go back to private practice.

“From the start, I determined that I would be in government for a limited period only. Now is the time to go back to private practice,” he told reporters at the Department of Justice.

Cadiz has denied talks that his resignation was due to the President’s supposed dissatisfaction with his performance in key cases handled by the OSG last year, including the controversial Hacienda Luisita case before the Supreme Court and the case before the World Trade Organization involving government duties and taxes on imported alcoholic products.

“There’s no issue on those cases,” he clarified, adding that he would still “wholeheartedly” support the Aquino administration even as a private citizen.

He also stressed he took no issue when he was not chosen to represent the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in the case involving the closure of Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank – a case where the government was represented by former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo from the topnotch Villaraza Cruz Marcelo & Angangco Law Offices known as “The Firm” and had lost in the Court of Appeals last week.

“The President wanted the OSG to handle that case, but BSP is independent,” Cadiz said.

His resignation came after he defended before the SC last year the position of the Department of Agrarian Reform for the distribution to farmworker-beneficiaries of the 4,915.75-hectare sugar estate owned by the family of President Aquino in Tarlac.

Cadiz had supported the bid of the farmworker-beneficiaries for the court to recall and set aside the option earlier granted to the farmers to remain as stockholders of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) and for the payment of P1.33 billion for the proceeds of sale on the 500-hectare parcel of land.

Observers had cited that while Cadiz stood by the land distribution, he opted to stick to the fair market value of the land in November 1989 instead of the market value in 2006, which would have been beneficial to HLI.

No interviews

Jardeleza, despite persistent requests from media, refused to grant any interviews yesterday pending an official announcement from Malacañang that he is Cadiz’s replacement.

The Office of the Ombudsman also refused to issue any statement on the vacuum of leadership created by his appointment to the OSG.

As Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, Jardeleza handles cases or complaints involving government officials and employees within Luzon excluding Metro Manila.

Jardeleza’s exit means that two deputy ombudsman positions are now vacant, including that of the Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) that was vacated by Emilio Gonzalez III last year.

Bar topnotcher

Jardeleza, a former lawyer and executive of San Miguel Corp., was appointed by President Aquino as deputy ombudsman for Luzon in July last year.

A native of Jaro, Iloilo City, he graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines College of Law in Diliman, Quezon City in 1974. He placed third in the 1974 Bar exams, garnering a general average of 88.35 percent.

Jardeleza joined the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala and Cruz (ACCRALAW) in 1975 and became the law firm’s partner in 1981. He was the only junior partner allowed to be a member of both the Litigation and Corporate (Special Projects) Departments. In 1986, he became chairman of the ACCRALAW Litigation Department.

He secured his Master of Laws at Harvard Law School in Massachusetts in 1977, and then trained in securities, litigation and public offerings as a foreign associate in the New York City law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell.

He left ACCRALAW in 1987 and founded Jardeleza Sobreviñas Diaz Hayudini and Bodegon, where he started practicing labor law. In 1990, he established the Jardeleza Law Offices as a solo practice.

In 1992, he joined Roco Buñag Kapunan Migallos and Jardeleza as partner, where he headed the litigation and labor law practice groups.

Jardeleza became senior vice-president and general counsel of food and beverage giant SMC from 1996 to 2010. He handled labor cases, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, securities, intellectual property and corporate governance with SMC.

He is also a professor in constitutional law at the UP College of Law, where he has been a professorial lecturer since 1993.

Forced to resign

A group of farmworker-beneficiaries belonging to the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura believes Cadiz was “forced to resign” because of his strong defense of DAR’s position that led to the unanimous ruling of the high court in November last year for the distribution of the hacienda.

“Clearly Cadiz was forced to resign because of his failure to protect the interest of Aquino in Hacienda Luisita. There is no great deal of reason why he resigned, not unless he made Aquino mad like his position for the distribution of Hacienda Luisita,” UMA secretary-general Rodel Mesa said in a statement.

The UMA leader also said “Aquino’s vengeful spree is far from over; we expect more heads will roll. Even the high court justices will not be spared, just like what he is doing now on the Chief Justice; the issue here is all about Hacienda Luisita plain and simple.”

Emeritus Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, who previously served as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, echoed the sentiment, saying he believes there would be other top officials in government who would follow Cadiz’s move.

Noy grateful

President Aquino yesterday thanked Cadiz for joining his administration and helping in his reform agenda, saying it has been their agreement from the start that his stay in government would not be for long.

The name of Cadiz, along with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa, has been reported since late last year as among the members of Aquino’s legal team who are expected to be replaced, following a series of legal debacles for the government.

In a statement released through the office of presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, it quoted Aquino as saying Cadiz knew his term in the administration’s legal team was temporary because he still wanted to go back to private practice.

President Aquino has also appointed Mandaue City Regional Trial Court Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap as associate justice of the Court of Appeals, Malacañang announced yesterday.

Lagura-Yap graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines-College of Cebu before earning her law degree from the University of San Carlos. She has been in government for almost 27 years.

Lacierda also announced the appointments of Jacob Montesa II and Jean Susan Desuasido Gill as metropolitan trial court judges.

The Palace announced the appointment of Emerson Palad as undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture.

Prior to his appointment, he was officer-in-charge of the Office of the Chief of Staff of the DA and its chief legal adviser. He is a 2005 holder of a juris doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law, Lacierda said. – With Delon Porcalla, Michael Punongbayan, Ding Cervantes, Aurea Calica, Evelyn Macairan