The brewing row at the judicial sector spurred by the GSIS-Meralco tiff may have brought a lot of embarrassments, but it also allowed the sterling qualities of some of its members to shine. Both the legal and business communities say the Supreme Court has started out on the right footing in its handling of the controversies at the Court of Appeals.
Two things stood out among the several moves done by the High Court. First, it formed a panel of credible retired justices to probe the ethical and procedural issues arising from the row at the appellate court.
Second, three justices inhibited themselves from the GSIS-Meralco war-related issues in an inspiring display of “delicadeza”.
By leaving it to the Aquino-Romero-Callejo panel to deal with the ethical issues, the High Court divorced itself from the emotionally charged aspects of the conflict. The SC is now perceived is being able to maintain its impartiality if and when either GSIS or Meralco raises issues before it regarding the CA decision on the Meralco board elections.
Emotions and legal substance have, therefore, been separated. Solomonic, indeed, on the part of our Supreme Court.
The High Court further boosted its moral authority and credibility following the move by Chief Justice Reynato Puno and Associate Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago and Antonio Carpio to inhibit themselves from the CA-related issues.
The daughter of one of the major protagonists in the CA row works at the Chief Justice’s office. A daughter of Justice Ynares-Santiago works with Meralco, while Justice Carpio was once part of the law firm that is now helping Meralco in the legal tussle with GSIS.
By inhibiting themselves, the three showed our country that delicadeza is alive and well at the High Court. The legal and business communities applaud their move and consider this a major boost to the bid to restore the credibility of the judiciary.
Some parties are asking whether or not Court of Appeals Justice Conrado Vasquez Jr. could have spared the appellate court an aggravation of its current problems by resorting to the practice of delicadeza.
Justice Vasquez is perceived to have taken the side of Justice Jose Sabio in the latter’s tiff with Justice Bienvenido Reyes over whose division the GSIS-Meralco case should be decided. Justice Vasquez was reported to have issued an opinion favoring Sabio despite an earlier memorandum from the CA rules committee upholding the practice of “the case follows the ponente” which favors the Reyes division.
Some are asking whether Justice Vasquez’ position leaning towards Justice Sabio has been inspired by the fact that two of his daughters are employed by the GSIS, and his sister Lenny Vasquez-De Jesus is a former trustee and current consultant of the pension fund and “comadre” of GSIS president Winston Garcia. Lenny’s daughter also allegedly works with GSIS.
Shouldn’t Justice Vasquez have distanced himself from the GSIS-Meralco row earlier due to his family’s GSIS connections, many ask.
It is unfair to impute malice on Justice Vasquez’ position. He must have his reasons and it is not for us to question them. The issue should be raised in the proper venue and not in the plaza of endless speculations.
We share the view, however, that Justice Vasquez could have avoided the speculation if he had resorted to the example of delicadeza that our High Court justices have shown.
In this country, delicadeza has always worked.
CARP Extension
Congress will be under close scrutiny by the public – as well as the media — in the next five months as the bill on CARP’s extension goes through the wringer.
The executive branch’s commitment to push the program was clearly spelled out during President Arroyo’s state of the nation address (SONA). Judging from her speech, the President wants the program to continue until it finally achieves its goal and its accomplishments replicated.
The battlefield now lies in Congress. Senate President Manuel Villar and Sen. Gringo Honasan, chairman of the Senate agrarian reform committee, and Speaker Prospero Nograles and Rep. Elias Bulut, Jr., chairman of the House agrarian reform committee, will specially be under the glare since they are the ones who will shepherd the bill to its final destination.
Whether the CARP will be extended for another five years or finally come to its end by December 31, 2008, either way its impact will have far-reaching consequences on the future of the country. The pressure on legislators will be tremendous, in the midst of public perception that Congress is dominated by landed interests.
If the lawmakers decide to kill the CARP by end of this year, they will be accused of abandoning their constitutional duty to render social justice.
If there’s any motivation for legislators to continue and extend the program, it’s what it has done thus far to farmer and tenant beneficiaries and to social justice in the country.
Based on Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) data, the department, as of end 2007, has already distributed 3.9 million hectares of agricultural lands to 2.2 million farmer and tenant beneficiaries. This achievement translates to 77 percent of DAR’s land distribution scope of 5.1 million hectares.
Assessing the output of awarded lands, the country has made a respectable headway. As of Dec. 2007, there are 799 rice-producing agrarian reform beneficiaries with an average yield of 3.99 metric tons per hectare. This output is higher than the national average of 3.67 metric tons per hectare.
There are 151 pieces of awarded lands planted to corn yielding an average of 2.95 metric tons per hectare. This is higher than the national average of 2.45 metric tons per hectare. It is only the coconut-producing communities that registered lower than the national average, which is understandable considering the long years it takes for coconut lands to produce.
The DAR pointed out this productivity level has contributed to the income level of beneficiaries’ households, with these families registering an average annual income of P106,090, which is higher than the national rural poverty threshold of P84,618 for a family of six.
The alleged management failure of CARP should not be reason for the State to abandon its constitutional duty in rendering social justice in the form of agrarian reform as clearly enshrined in the Constitution.
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