De Castro to co-equal branches: Respect our decisions, leave us alone
MANILA, Philippines — Chief Justice Teresita De Castro, in her first message to the Supreme Court employees as head of the Judiciary, stressed that the high court "should be left alone to decide for ourselves."
She said that the Judiciary demands respect from its co-equal branches of government.
"The other members of the co-equal branches should understand that the decision reached by the justices of the SC must be respected. We should be left alone to decide on the fate of this institution without interference," De Castro also said.
De Castro was among the Supreme Court justices that testified at the House of Representatives in hearings into an impeachment complaint against Maria Lourdes Sereno, who has since been ousted through a separate but related quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida.
“People outside would like to judge us by what they see or hear from afar but it is us, the justices and officials of the Court, who know what is happening inside the Supreme Court and we should be left alone,” added the chief justice.
From red to black to blue
The SC on Monday was decked in blue, as The STAR earlier reported that employees initiated the call to wear blue to show the return of “peace” in the Judiciary.
During the height of the ouster moves against Sereno, the SC employees held “Red Mondays” and “Black Fridays” to show their support for the bids to remove her from office.
President Rodrigo Duterte appointed De Castro as the new chief justice in a decision that the Palace said was based on seniority.
The quo warranto petition that led to Sereno's removal from office reaped criticism from many sectors for being “unconstitutional.” Some lawmakers, who said the correct way to remove a sitting chief justice is through impeachment, said that it weakened the SC's independence as an institution.
De Castro will hold the position for less than two months.
Chief justice a first among equals
In her address to court employees, De Castro stressed that “the chief justice is only the first but equal nevertheless with each of the associate justices of the court.”
De Castro also stressed that no one “can claim superiority over the others.”
“We decide all cases with one vote each,” she added.
She also said that the co-equal branches of government shall understand that the justices’ decision “must be respected.”
In her first press briefing with the press last August 28, the chief justice said that she wants the “De Castro court” to be remembered as the one that brought back collegiality in the SC. — Kristine Joy Patag with The STAR's Edu Punay and News5's Dale De Vera
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