YEARENDER: Judiciary makes inroads despite Sereno’s troubles

MANILA, Philippines — Five years after the ouster of the late chief justice Renato Corona, his successor as head of the Supreme Court (SC) is also facing impeachment.

The complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in the House of Representatives was a top story for the judiciary in 2017, a year in which the high tribunal also tackled the imposition of martial law.

Sereno is accused of culpable violations of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes stated in 27 specific allegations in the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon.

In an unprecedented move, some of her colleagues even opted to testify against her in the House.

Associate Justices Teresita de Castro, Francis Jardeleza and Noel Tijam have taken the witness stand earlier along with retired associate justice Arturo Brion.

It was earlier reported that Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and five other magistrates – associate justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Samuel Martires and Andres Reyes Jr. – have been invited by the House justice committee to appear in the next hearings in January.

Last Nov. 28, the SC allowed, via unanimous vote, its justices and officials to testify in the impeachment proceedings against the Chief Justice. They were allowed to discuss administrative matters raised in the impeachment case.

The House justice committee has found sufficiency in form and substance and in grounds the impeachment complaint against Sereno. It is now determining the existence of probable cause and decide whether or not to file the case in the Senate.

Hearings will resume next month after the holiday break.

Legal and political observers expect the House of Representatives to impeach Sereno, citing public pronouncements by President Duterte – whose allies dominate the House – in support of Sereno’s impeachment.

They believe that the real battle will be in the Senate where Sereno’s camp expects a fair trial.

Martial law

Last July the high court upheld the legality of President Duterte’s martial law declaration in Mindanao, stemming from attacks by the Islamic State (IS)-linked local terror group Maute in Marawi last May.

It dismissed three consolidated petitions filed by group led by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman seeking to strike down Proclamation No. 216 for lack of necessary factual basis.

The SC held that there was sufficient factual basis for the declaration of martial law in Mindanao and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the region after Maute’s attack in Marawi.

The SC further ruled that the power to determine the scope of territorial application of martial law belongs to the President and that there is no constitutional provision that such emergency power should be implemented only in the place where actual rebellion exists.

The ruling became final last Dec. 5 after the SC junked the appeal of petitioners. 

De Lima drug case

In another controversial case, the SC dismissed Sen. Leila de Lima’s petition seeking release from detention.

She has been accused of benefitting from the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison when she was Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary.

Voting 9-6 in October, the justices junked her petition for lack of merit.

De Lima had claimed that her case should have been filed before the Sandiganbayan and not with the regional trial court (RTC). The SC said, however, that the RTC has exclusive jurisdiction over the drug charges against De Lima – even if her position as DOJ secretary has a salary grade higher than 27 that is covered by the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan.

The SC also rejected De Lima’s argument that the criminal cases against her should be direct bribery and not violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act). 

The SC added that De Lima’s petition was premature as it violated the rule on hierarchy of courts and the prohibition against forum shopping.

In yet another much-publicized case, the SC allowed the construction of Torre de Manila – the residential building appearing behind the monument of national hero Jose Rizal in Luneta – to proceed.

The justices voted 9-6 to dismiss the 2014 petition of the Knights Of Rizal seeking the demolition of the residential project for supposedly ruining the sightline of the Rizal monument.

The high court also lifted the temporary restraining order it issued in June 2015 that stopped the construction of the condominium.

Brighter years ahead

Whatever the outcome of the Sereno impeachment case, the future seems bright for the judiciary.

The Chief Justice believes that the reform agenda initiated by the SC will succeed despite political developments that are coming the judiciary’s way.

“Meaningful changes take deep root and survive leadership turnovers in the judiciary,” she stressed in a recent speech.

Sereno assured the public that judicial programs for transparency and efficiency remain on track.

“The people can be proud of our judiciary. We work with pride, with honor, with dignity,” she told colleagues in the SC during their Christmas party last Dec. 8.

The Chief Justice vowed to continue reform efforts aimed to speed up the trial system in the country and to make the courts transparent and closer to the public.

“We look forward to more things to report to the nation,” she said.

She believes that the formula to improve services of the judiciary and address corruption in courts has been laid down by the high court and all that’s left is to make sure the programs will be implemented well.

“The judiciary will continue with the implementation of its different judicial reform programs, ultimately shifting into automating its processes with the end in view of transforming the judiciary into the gold standard of public service,” she vowed.

To speed up resolution of cases and declog court dockets, Sereno cited the phase by phase rollout of electronic courts (eCourt) and automated hearing, the implementation of continuous trial in criminal courts and the 2016 Revised Rules of Procedure for Small Claims Cases, which raised the ceiling for claims that will be handled through summary procedure.

She said there are 298 courts which will benefit from the eCourt program, where judges receive pleadings via email. The SC targets to establish eCourts in all courts by 2020.

The continuous trial, on the other hand, is applied in many high-profile cases, including the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case, to expedite their resolution. 

Sereno likewise cited the “Hustisyeah,” a case decongestion program launched in 2013 participated in by law students, which led to removal of 62 percent or 32,060 of the 51,825 priority cases targeted for disposition from the dockets. 

The SC chief said similar programs like the formulation of rules for commercial courts, including financial rehabilitation and insolvency, as well as the action plan to address infrastructure problems of the courts have likewise led to positive developments.

For the transparency program, Sereno cited the high tribunal’s move to release the SALNs of justices to the public.

She recalled several cases where the SC cracked its whip on erring judges and court personnel this year.

Sereno said the Court also prioritizes modernization through infrastructure projects, citing as example the transfer of the SC complex from Padre Faura, Manila to Bonifacio Global City in Taguig set for 2019 via a P1.28-billion project. 

The SC building on Padre Faura belongs to the University of the Philippines.

“The high court should have a building that is modern, disaster resilient, technology enabled and that will stand as the symbol of the Filipino sense of justice,” Sereno explained.

Last August, she revealed the SC’s P1-billion project for construction of a judicial complex in Cebu.

The SC chief said measures have also been taken to develop effective and efficient human resources.

“In order to produce efficient and effective delivery of justice, we must intently look into the qualifications of the required personnel through an intelligent input-output analysis. Included in this analysis are the definition of the terms of reference of many personnel in the judiciary; an effective system of rewards and punishment; training and standardized and manualized operating procedures. These are the game changers needed to professionalize our ranks,” she stressed.

She pointed out that these reform programs were “founded on the character of the Good Judge and the Good Court Staff” and designed as a “character-dependent, principle-driven and process-intensive reform path.”

Sereno hopes that other stakeholders such as the DOJ and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines would follow the SC’s reform agenda to further improve the country’s justice system.