EDITORIAL - Court vacancies

The glacial pace of Philippine justice is seen as one of the principal reasons for the popularity of law enforcement short cuts including the execution of drug suspects. Delayed justice is an injustice that has also contributed to social unrest and insurgencies.

President Duterte is trying to end that unrest, so he should be interested in doing his part to speed up the administration of justice. A report over the weekend said the two vacancies waiting to be filled in the Supreme Court are further delaying adjudication in the high tribunal.

The vacancies were created with the retirement last December of Associate Justices Jose Perez and Arturo Brion. The Judicial and Bar Council has submitted to Malacañang a list of possible replacements.

While the President has 90 days from the creation of each vacancy to pick a replacement, he may also name the new justices within a month. The pace of work in the Supreme Court is slow enough and he should not give the tribunal an excuse to move even slower. There is no guarantee that a full SC bench would translate into quicker adjudication. But two empty seats can slow down SC deliberations on raging issues as members of the tribunal, according to reports, prefer to have a full bench voting on major controversies.

Among the major cases waiting for a final ruling are the petitions on the exhumation of the remains of dictator Ferdinand Marcos from the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the lifting of the restraining order on the full implementation of the Reproductive Health law.

The SC, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, must also rule on the poll protest filed by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo, who won her post by a narrow margin.

The wheels of Philippine justice turn exceedingly slow. President Duterte should not provide a reason for the wheels to turn even slower.