Dangerous and damaging move

It is said that people can endure the hunger for food more than they can bear the hunger for justice; that physical suffering for lack of something to eat is more tolerable than mental anguish due to deprivation of justice. Poverty and hunger continue to stalk our land because of dirty and corrupt politics and politicians. But this is not enough to drive a good number of our countrymen to the hills to take up arms against the government simply because they still have faith and trust that, warts and all, our Judiciary, as a general rule, can satisfy their hunger and thirst for justice. Hence our Courts of Justice have always been looked up to as the strongest bulwark of democracy.

But like all human institutions, our courts also have so many imperfections, defects and weaknesses such that oftentimes our people cannot quench their thirst for justice at the first instance. Hence, the hierarchical structure of the Judiciary has been designed to correct the perceived injustices due to these human imperfections. At the top of this hierarchy where any remaining errors of judgment and acts of injustices can still be reviewed and corrected is the Supreme Court (SC). Thus it is aptly described as the court of last resort.

Of course our court of last resort or its Justices may also commit mistakes, imperfect as they are. But the image they project is still good enough to inspire greater trust and confidence in the Judiciary than in the other branches of the government. Despite the growing fears that its independence is seriously undermined because of the swelling number of Malacañang appointees among its ranks, its image remains intact because it has a Chief Justice (CJ) whose brilliance, integrity, competence, probity and independence are beyond question.

 A little over halfway through his tenure, CJ Reynato S. Puno has already notched very significant gains and taken impact-laden moves towards promotion of justice in this country. Shortly after assuming office, he convened a Summit to solve the pestering and rampant problem of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances that led to the promulgation of several rules concerning the protection and enforcement of citizens’ constitutional rights. Then he also called a conference of the various sectors of our society having stakes in our justice system for the purpose of bringing justice closer to the people that resulted in the more active implementation of “Justice on Wheels” project and concrete steps towards speedier disposition of cases. He is the longest serving member of the present Supreme Court, having been appointed way back in 1993 and his stint has been distinguished by well written decisions in landmark cases where he clearly and unmistakably set forth his judicial philosophy anchored on constitutionalism and strict adherence to democratic principles and the rule of law.    

Hence the on-going noise about the move to impeach the CJ which seems to be growing louder should not be allowed to continue but must be immediately squelched. It is not good for our Judiciary that has so far kept the people’s trust and continued to provide the much needed hope for a fair and just society.

More importantly, the act imputed to CJ Puno is not a ground for impeachment nor is it wrong, irregular or improper at all. In fact, he is just performing his duty as CJ. The case is about the un-promulgated ponencia of recently retired Justice Ruben Reyes already signed by 14 Justices on July 15, 2008 with 9 Justices concurring only in the result but not in the reasons behind the decision. Obviously therefore the majority did not concur on the bases of the Reyes decision, thereby rendering it without doctrinal value. Under this situation and considering that it has not yet been promulgated as the CJ has not signed it yet, it was set for oral argument en banc on August 26, 2008. The reason for this is that under the Constitution “No decision shall be rendered by any court without expressing therein clearly and distinctly the facts and the law on which it is based” (Section 14, Article VIII).

The wrongful act committed here is the leakage of the un-promulgated decision of retired Justice Reyes which has not yet been signed by the CJ. No copy of said decision can be released yet outside of the SC en banc as it is still confidential and part of the internal deliberations in the SC. Hence the leakage or release of said copy infringes the internal SC procedure. If an impeachment case will be filed, the Lower House will be intruding into and probing on purely internal matters pertaining to a co-equal and independent branch of government which clearly violates the principle of separation of powers. To be sure, the recent junking by the Lower House of impeachment complaint against the President despite its sufficiency in substance is more irregular and illegal, but it was never raised before the SC precisely because it involves the internal rules of the House and may infringe the principle of separation of powers.

Moreover impeachment is essentially a political process where political partisanship plays a major role. Past experiences show that decisions on the issues raised during the proceeding are made on the basis of the number of members of the Lower House voting for or against a proposition rather than on the weight of the reasons advanced regarding the merits of the case. If the House will persist in its present impeachment move against the CJ, then it will inevitably and eventually lead to the politicization of our justice system. Besides if our Congressmen will persist in their contemplated move then it will just confirm the current speculation that the Palace is behind it so that it has firmer hold on the SC in case the Cha-cha issue will be raised before the SC. So our Congressmen should just abandon this damaging and dangerous move that may only cause further instability.

On another matter but still concerning the SC, let me just congratulate the recently appointed Justice Diosdado M. Peralta. Notwithstanding his perceived closeness to the Palace, Justice Peralta is intellectually and morally fit to hold the position. I have observed him as a lecturer and a co- member in the sub-committee on Evidence of the SC Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court and I am convinced that he will be up to the task and will do justice and bring honor to the position.   

Note: Books containing compilation of my articles on Labor Law and Criminal Law (Vols. I and II) are now available. Call tel. 7249445.

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