As the selected lead private trial prosecutor in the first impeachment proceedings against a sitting president, Sonny Marcelo displayed his skills as a seasoned litigator when he presented the prosecution's star witness, Ilocos Sur Gov Luis “Chavit” Singson.
The article, entitled “House prosecution panel get a big favor”, reads in part: “Whoever suggested the engagement of the services of lawyer Simeon Marcelo to conduct the direct examination of Ilocos Sur Gov.
He has skillfully guided Singson through the maze of transactions he allegedly undertook for the benefit of President Estrada without inviting serious objections from the defense lawyers.
“Marcelo’s expertise in trial work showed in the case by which he matched the questions with the entries in the ledgers and checks presented to the impeachment court to get the desired answers.
Not only did the use of the native language put Singson at ease in answering his questions, he was able to communicate directly to the part of the radio and TV audience who are not fluent in the English language.” (14 December 2000 issue) In another article that appeared later in the same newspaper, it was commented that: “HIS impeccable courtroom manners, boyish smile and quick, appropriate answers to the questions of the chief justice, senator-judges and defense panel won the hearts of the viewers of the impeachment trial.
x x x” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 February 2001, at page B13) Sonny's selection as the lead private trial prosecutor was not a whimsical coincidence or merely a matter of relationship, being the personal lawyer of then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
When he was chosen, it was already known that former President Estrada has engaged the services of former Solicitor General and Justice Secretary Estelito Mendoza to lead his defense panel: “As head litigator (of Carpio Villaraza & Cruz Law Offices), Mr. Marcelo represented or fought some of the country’s most powerful people.
The first time he locked horns with Mr. Mendoza was 10 years before, when the martial law government of President Ferdinand Marcos shut down several textile mills suspected of smuggling.
When both sides were about to argue on the motion, the government’s counsel, a lawyer about 20 years older than Mr. Marcelo, gave way to a familiar face: then Solicitor General Mendoza.” (Men’s Zone, March 2001, at page 47) As fate would have it, the impeachment proceeding was not completed and there was no resolution of the charges against then President Estrada.
In what is widely acclaimed as the “Trial of the Century”, then Solicitor General Marcelo, who was deputized in April 2001 by then Ombudsman Aniano Desierto as one of the principal prosecutors, initially acted as the “de facto” head of the legal panel that was in charge of prosecuting former President Joseph Estrada for plunder at the Sandiganbayan.
When he left government service for health reasons in November 2005, Sonny Marcelo continued to serve as the head, though again in a “de facto” capacity, of the legal panel that was prosecuting former President Estrada.
A month after the effective date (30 November 2005) of his resignation as Ombudsman, he started reviewing all the records, including the transcripts of stenographic notes, of the case and personally drafted the final memorandum for the prosecution for submission to the Sandiganbayan.
Further, he, together with the other members of the legal panel, advised then Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio on the cross-examination of the defense witnesses, particularly accused former President Estrada.
On 12 September 2007, after six years of continuous trial, the Sandiganbayan rendered a judgment convicting former President Estrada for plunder and imposing on him the penalty of reclusion perpetua.
As reported in the 13 September 2007 front page of the issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer: “‘I TOOK A GAMBLE,’ JOSEPH Estrada said—and the nation watched as the gambler lost.
It generally subdued proceedings that lasted barely 15 minutes and broadcast live on radio and television, the Sandiganbayan's Special Division yesterday pronounced the 70-year-old ousted President guilty of plunder and sentenced him up to 40 years in prison.
It may be true that a convicted plunderer escaped the life sentence that he deserved through no fault of the prosecution panel, but for Sonny Marcelo, the work, for the moment, was done and the message had been sent to corrupt public officials, even those at the highest echelons of power – a few good men still exist who are willing to dedicate their lives, make the needed sacrifices and persevere to overcome numerous obstacles to see to it that justice is done and that the Rule of Law is followed.
Not only is Mendoza the highest paid lawyer in the country; it was he who was able to get another big fish—former First Lady Imelda Marcos—off the hook in 1998 when the Supreme Court reversed a Sandiganbayan verdict convicting her of graft.
The other ‘superstars’ in Estrada’s legal team were veteran trial lawyer Jose Flaminiano, former Senator Rene Saguisag, and former University of the Philippines College of Law Dean Pacifico Agabin.
At the time, Marcelo was head of the litigation division of the Carpio Villaraza & Cruz law office, which likewise counseled President Arroyo until recently.
After Ateneo, he went to UP where he took his Bachelor of Laws.” In the cover story that appeared in the 15 October 2007 issue of Philippines GRAPHIC, Inday Espina-Varona, its Editor-In-Chief, wrote: “They’re not hobbits and the Philippines isn’t Middle Earth but a firm fellowship continues to glue the team of public and private prosecutors that won the historic Guilty verdict for plunder against deposed President Joseph Estrada.
x x x x Both public and private prosecutors worked hand-in-hand and spent long hours to ensure that the evidence consisting of testimonies from 76 witnesses and voluminous documentary exhibits were properly presented in court and all the arguments raised by the defense in volumes of pleadings were adequately met.
Determination and the ability to follow through with strategies, yet nimbly shift when needed are what win legal battles.” (Philippines Graphic, 15 October 2007, at page 24) The accolades have been many.
We must learn from that and let those who did wrong pay for it.” (Newsbreak, 2001) Appropriately, the Estrada Plunder case will always be considered as Sonny Marcelo's paramount legacy to the country and to the legal profession.
(To date, this is one of the biggest recovery of stolen assets from a corrupt government official worldwide; also, the Supreme Court judgement constituted the first final ruling that the Marcoses had acquired ill-gotten wealth during the late dictator’s regime.)
Then Solicitor General Marcelo also successfully handled before the Supreme Court other foremost cases, including those involving the constitutionality of the Plunder Law, the revival of the prosecution of senior police officers (including one who is now a member of the Senate) involving the extrajudicial killing of a gang of suspected criminals, the recovery of shares of stock and dividends worth P70 Billion in connection with the coconut levy cases and the recovery of stockholdings worth P26 Billion from the family of one of the late dictator’s cronies.
The following year (2007), working only part-time, he became a Professor of Evidence and a member of the Board of Trustees of Arellano University Law School and served as the Executive Secretary of the Asian Development Bank Administrative Tribunal.
Aside from being a successful litigator in both private and public arenas, he also served, prior to joining the government in 2001, as the Chairperson of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ National Committee on Legal Aid and was head of its Task Force on Child Abuse, as well as the Executive Editor of its Law Journal.
Marcelo, helped tremendously in the prosecution by securing key evidence such as the testimony of television reporter Gus Abelgas, before whom some of the accused confessed their commission of the crime while being interviewed on camera.
Marcelo served last year a USAID consultant for anti-corruption and good governance in relation to its project to strengthen the Sandiganbayan and the Office of the Ombudsman.