GMA leads nation in paying tribute to Davide

"A paragon of service, honesty and evenhandedness in upholding the rule of law."

That’s how President Arroyo led the nation in paying tribute to Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. yesterday, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

"The Filipino people are grateful to Chief Justice Hilario Davide for being a paragon of service, honesty and evenhandedness in upholding the rule of law," she said in a statement.

"We share the public’s recognition and high regard for him for setting the standard for the judiciary as an exemplar of upright conduct in clear view of everyone and profound wisdom that touches all — rich or poor, young or old."

According to Mrs. Arroyo, Davide holds a piece of Philippine history in his hands, considering the vital role he has played in judicial reform and in strengthening the law in a period of social and political change.

"As a bedrock of confidence and stability, he has helped shape the country’s political and economic future," Mrs. Arroyo said. "It would be difficult to find someone to fit his shoes, at a time when the nation needs bright beacons and sturdy pillars to lean on."

Davide, according to one of his colleagues and possible successor Associate Justice Reynato Puno, is leaving a legacy of "uprightness and discipline" in the judiciary.

Until the end of his term, Puno said Davide continued his "house-cleaning" of the courts under a Supreme Court program dubbed "the Davide Watch." A number of reforms were also implemented during his time and even fellow justices came to face disciplinary action.

Davide’s retirement today caps a seven-year stint in the high court. The Judicial and Bar Council has recommended three SC justices to replace him: Puno, Artemio Panganiban and Leonardo Quisumbing.

In one of his recent public speeches, Davide talked about his impending retirement, saying: "I have given my best. I have drawn out all my faculties and powers with which God has blessed me. And I hope that my work is valued as I should like it to be."

"As I draw near the end of a mighty dedication and retire from public life the thought alone that those who would succeed us, our heirs, will readily take up our cause and never bury in oblivion our prophecies, our work, our gains, brings me great happiness and an unbound joy. The surrender to the approaching fate becomes truly glorious," he said.

Davide said he could not help but look back as he prepared to leave public life.

"Time and again I realize that my only worth is that I am to be both a necessary and a willing instrument of the Almighty, even if I can never know His higher designs. It brings me a kind of poignant joy to see many friends and colleagues around me, many of whom have taught me to look up when the weight of public life pressed me to look down," he said.

"As I near the end of my career in the judiciary I have only to look upon the past as my greatest memory, every bit of which is etched according to God’s designs and plans."

The Davide Watch, which encompasses the vision and mission of the Supreme Court under his time as Chief Justice, is a legacy, and nothing more, Davide explained.

"We must have a vision. When there is no vision the people perish. When we live out a vision, our life becomes a ministry. I would like to think that the Davide Watch makes up not only the guiding force for government institutions but subsists as the catechism for every man and woman in the government, in all ages, and in all times." — With Jess Diaz