Davide lawyer urges nation to guard judiciary

A member of the defense panel of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. has appealed to the public and opinion makers "to guard against the virulent and insidious threat to erode public confidence in our judicial system, especially the Supreme Court."

Legal advocate Florencio Orendain issued the appeal in the face of reports quoting Speaker Jose De Venecia that some congressmen are now preparing to continue the first impeachment complaint against Davide, filed by former President Joseph Estrada, or the second impeachment declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Orendain stressed that the Supreme Court, "being a collegial body with a very minuscule budget, suffers some inherent handicaps in that it does not openly and actively advocate or promote to the general public its low-profile role as an arbiter of public issues."

He added that "when a high public issue erupts, which requires the intervention of the Supreme Court, it really calls for having to make a fairly extended and laborious explanation as many of these issues are new, complicated or even strange to the public."

Orendain, a highly regarded Makati-based legal and financial advocate, stressed that the saving grace of the disconcerting experience of the nation during the last three weeks is that "the Supreme Court is now symbolized and personified by a Chief Justice who, independent of his official position, enjoys a fairly high approval rating as a person.

"No matter how reluctant a leader Davide may be, his attributes and reputation, as a person, family man, jurist, reformer and crusader, have become the reservoir of inner strength that supported the Supreme Court in its most recent crisis."

Others in the chief justice’s defense panel are constitutional law Prof. Antonio R. Tupaz, former UP Law dean Froilan Bacungan, former undersecretary of justice Ramon Esguerra, litigation expert Leonard De Vera, former commissioner Ruben Agpalo, former Constitutional Convention delegate Ricardo M. Sagmit, and Hilario P. Davide III.