My brother-in-law, retired UP Law Professor Carmelo V. Sison, once observed that if you want to know the birthday of the chief justice you only have to ask any of the associate justices. They know when he or she will turn 70 and must retire.
Ambition and ego drive those justices. Once they get to the Supreme Court they think there is no more worthy chief justice than themselves.
It was a pathetic scene at the House justice committee hearing. The Justices and other SC officials sat in a row looking so dejected as if, in the words of one observer on social media, they were cheated by an illegal recruiter.
It was sadder still to listen to them spill all their heartaches with such venom against that bully of an upstart chief justice. It is difficult to believe the justices could stoop so low… begging the House to end their suffering. In the immortal words of Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro: “Hanggang kailan kami magtitiis?”
That’s begging another branch of government to interfere in what seemed to me, were internal problems of the Supreme Court. The worst conclusion I can get from their testimonies is that the chief justice is a lousy manager who doesn’t have enough EQ to know she has to massage the bloated egos of her colleagues.
So the chief justice didn’t follow her recommendations in a number of cases. I presume that’s why she is called chief justice… The SC, to this layman, is a collegial body and majority rules in cases brought to the entire court. On day-to-day and procedural matters, efficiency demands the chief justice should have the right to act.
The other justice accused the chief justice of treason in connection with the case filed in the International Court on the problems with China in the West Philippine Sea.
It seems to me it is Justice Jardeleza who was betraying Philippine interests. He was trying to appease China in a way that would have jeopardized our case. Our experienced foreign external counsel was alarmed.
I know it is difficult for the egos of the older justices to accept the most junior of the associate justices as the head of the Supreme Court. Seniority is important for them, except that the appointing authority didn’t share their view.
That happened, too, in the US when John Roberts was appointed chief justice by President George W. Bush. Not only was the new chief justice the youngest among the justices, he was not even an associate justice when he became chief justice.
But the American justices accepted him even if they realized they would all be dead and the young John Roberts would still be chief justice. The practice in the US is for the justices to serve for as long as they want unlike here when they retire at age 70.
That, I believe, is what’s behind the griping of our justices. Chief Justice Sereno is set to retire in 2030, and it is only 2017. Only Justice Marvic Leonen is younger than her. The only way the aging justices can have a chance is for the chief justice to be impeached.
And so they throw everything at her except that she is so eminently more qualified for the position than most of them. She was UP Law class valedictorian and people who know her tell me she is really intelligent and has a lifestyle that’s above board.
She traveled Business Class or even First Class? Her position as the head of one of the three branches of our government gives her the right to do so. She bought a luxurious bullet-proof SUV as her official car? Even the PNP chief has the same model SUV and he is several ranks lower than her in the government hierarchy.
But the chief justice exudes this aura of intellectual superiority that turns people off. She moved up too fast, before she could adjust to the traditional way of doing business in the court.
She really could have treated her fellow justices with a lot more respect, massaging their egos as necessary. But she is not a politician. She is a jurist who is supposed to dispense justice as fairly and quickly as possible.
She is probably too cerebral, but as Senior Justice Tony Carpio showed, a justice could be that but not cause colleagues to feel as insecure as they apparently feel towards her.
And speaking of Justice Carpio, his initiative to investigate the awarding of a consultancy contract for the SC’s computer system is the CJ’s weak point. If it is true she awarded a contract outside of the normal procurement process… that is a serious offense. It got the chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission kicked out of office.
In the management of the court system, I think she should have done more to make the wheels of justice move faster. At the lower courts, it is simply intolerably slow and the reputation for corruption kills faith in our judicial system.
But how does one define high crimes deserving impeachment? Impeachment is a political act and does not require solid evidence of culpability.
The Speaker says impeach and they will impeach. It’s payback time for Sereno’s role in prosecuting the Piatco case where the Speaker’s role as the DOTC secretary had been questioned.
The ultimate tragedy is the end of judicial independence. Those Justices should have stayed aloof and defended judicial independence even if their heart aches to do so.
Letting the politicians interfere is a terrible mistake. Whatever happens now, thejustices have conceded subservience to the politicians. The constitutional principle of separation of powers is now a fiction.
Investors looking for a country governed by law will see one governed by politicians. This is a definite disincentive to investments but our leaders don’t seem to care. Sad!
Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco