Court guided by rule of law, SC says after Arroyo acquittal comment

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court will always be free from the influence of the executive and the legislative, its spokesperson stressed Wednesday after former House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo thanked President Rodrigo Duterte making her acquittal for plunder possible.

At the testimonial dinner for her Tuesday, Arroyo expressed gratitude to Duterte for “providing the atmosphere” that led to her acquittal from plunder in 2016.

“Most of all, I thank you that when you became president, you provided the atmosphere in which the court had the freedom to acquit me of the trumped-up charges of my successor and your predecessor, so that the court voted 11-4 in my favor, including half of those who were appointed by my successor,” Arroyo said.

In a statement, SC Public Information Office chief Brian Keith Hosaka said he has yet to speak with Chief Justice Luis Bersamin about Arroyo's comments.

“However, the public can be assured that the Supreme Court has and will always act independently and free from influence from other branches of government,” Hosaka said.

“The Supreme Court is guided by the rule of law and its decisions are always based on facts, laws and reason,” Hosaka added as he encouraged the public to read court decisions to “understand the reasons why they were decided that way.”

In 2012, Arroyo was charged with plunder for allegedly misusing the funds of the state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. She was arrested during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III.

But in July 2016, barely a month after Duterte became president, the high court acquitted her of plunder, saying “there was no proof of any amassing or accumulating or acquiring ill-gotten wealth of at least P50 million.”

The justices who ruled in favor of the former president were Justices Bersamin, Estela Bernabe, Arturo Brion, Teresita de Castro, Mariano del Castillo, Francis Jardeleza, Jose Mendoza, Diosdado Peralta, Jose Perez, Bienvenido Reyes and Presbitero Velasco.

Of the 11, eight were Arroyo appointees while Bernabe, Brion, Jardeleza and Reyes were appointed by Aquino.

Only four dissented: Ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Marvic Leonen and Alfredo Caguioa.

The Supreme Court ruling also allowed Arroyo to walk free after nearly four years of hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

Last May, Bersamin assured the public that Duterte has never pressured the high tribunal to decide favorably for the administration in any case.

“I don’t think the president has ever controlled the Supreme Court; probably in another time in our history, (the perception) was warranted,” Bersamin said.

Duterte has so far appointed nine magistrates to the Supreme Court—now Ombudsman Samuel Martires and now retired Justice Noel Tijam as well as Associate Justices Andres Reyes, Jr., Alexander Gesmundo, Jose Reyes, Jr., Ramon Paul Hernando, Rosmari Carandang, Amy Lazaro-Javier and Henri Jean Paul Inting.