By Perfecto Raymundo
MANILA, (PNA) — Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. Aranal Sereno has asked Justice Secretary Leila M. De Lima to investigate the alleged existence of an influential fixer within the Judiciary named “Ma’am Arlene”.
De Lima said Sereno made the request Monday.
Court Administrator Atty. Jose Midas P. Marquez is already investigating the controversy.
This “Ma’am Arlene” was likened to businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged “brains” behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam and the P900-million Malampaya Fund scam.
However, Marquez said this issue is different because there are no public funds involved.
De Lima said she has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to undertake the parallel investigation.
“This (Monday) morning, actually, I had a meeting with Chief Justice (Maria Lourdes) Sereno. She called for me lalo na nung nabasa niya sa dyaryo na I said something na if the NBI would be asked by the Supreme Court, particularly, by the Chief Justice ay pwede kami mag-ibestiga,” De Lima said.
“So she (Sereno) formally requested already that, even if iniimbestigahan na rin daw yan ng SC through Court Administrator Midas, the Chief Justice still wants the NBI to do the investigation also,” she added.
De Lima said the issue must be looked into since it alleges corruption in the courts.