THE SUPREME Court meets today to consider the petition of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV which challenges the constitutionality of President Rodrigo Duterte’s proclamation voiding the amnesty given to Trillanes in 2011.
Circumstances, particularly the quo warranto case which resulted in the sacking of former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, have resulted in the SC being seen by some as subservient to the Executive Branch.
If Trillanes’ petition fails, then this could be considered as further evidence against the concept that the Judicial and Executive are separate but co-equal branches of government. We should avoid this thought process if possible but consider dispassionately the reasons the SC gives for the success or failure of the Trillanes petition.
This means that we do not currently trust the SC. We would like to regain the trust but this will take time.
Chief Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro believes that in the short time she has available she should try to re-engender SC’s collegiality. This is a start. Vigorous debate between SC members in which opposing views are treated respectfully would, hopefully, lead to good decisions. Over time, this would mean that we, too, regain respect from the SC.
Comparison with the US Supreme Court is invited. Their SC consists of only nine members whereas we have 15. In principle, it is easier to achieve strong collegiality with a smaller SC because there is less possibility of factions.
It is now more than a decade since President George W. Bush appointed John Roberts as Chief Justice. At 50, Roberts was the youngest of the nine. No whinging from those who considered themselves to be more senior than Roberts was reported. The media like to classify SC members as either “conservative” or “liberal”. Roberts was deemed to be conservative and received a grilling at his confirmation hearings from Democrats. Now a potential SC judge, Justice Kavanaugh, also a “conservative” is receiving similar treatment at his confirmation hearings. He is giving the same answers, on abortion for example, that Roberts gave.
President Trump put forward Kavanaugh as someone who has a similar ideology as himself. But I believe that Kavanaugh, like Roberts, will vote according to the facts as presented so that we shall not see a substantial lurch to conservatism if Kavanaugh is confirmed.
All this is to say that the SC in the US is independent of the President and will remain so.
One day I hope this will happen here as well and the checks and balances developed by the framers of our 1987 Constitution will be implemented fairly.
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“Poverty is a powerful measure of the failure of a society.” – SC Associate Justice Marvic Leonen/PN
