With 2 Rody appointees, SC to resolve big cases

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) can be expected to soon rule on big cases pending before it for months, now that its composition is again complete.

President Duterte’s first two appointees in the high court – Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Noel Tijam – filled the two vacancies in the SC, which an insider said had prevented the Court from deciding on several cases in the past three months.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to lack of authority to speak for the SC, cited the importance of keeping the composition of the high tribunal complete when it decides on big cases.

The insider cited the 2009 ruling of the high court exempting its posts from the midnight appointment ban during election period, which paved the way for the appointment of the late chief justice Renato Corona.

The source explained that since December last year when Associate Justices Jose Perez and Arturo Brion retired, the SC has been deluged with many urgent pleadings, including the motion of martial law victims seeking to exhume the remains of strongman Ferdinand Marcos in an appeal to the ruling in November last year allowing his burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Before the retirement of Perez last Dec. 14 and Brion on Dec. 29, the high court had set for resolution the cases involving the Torre de Manila condominium.

Several motions were also filed by parties in the election protest of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo before the President Electoral Tribunal.

“The Court, like other collegial body, works more effectively when its composition is complete. Consensus is important for us,” the insider told The STAR.

Martires and Tijam were welcomed by SC justices and employees during the flag-raising ceremony yesterday and are expected to join the regular session today.