The Role of CPAs in Safeguarding Liberty and Nurturing Prosperity

Address delivered by retired Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban during the induction of officers of the Association of Certified Public Accountants in Public Practice, held on January 29, 2008 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Makati City.

May I thank your President, Reynaldo S. Altre, for inviting me today to be your inducting officer and guest speaker. Having already retired from active public life, I no longer accept speaking invitations. I feel that I have already done my bit in high profile public life and should enjoy my retirement with my APOstolate. You see, I have nine apos – going ten by April this year – and I just want to enjoy life playing with them. That is why, most of the time, I have respectfully turned down requests for public speaking.

However, your president was quite insistent. He reminded me that he and his firm have been the auditors of our small group of companies for about 40 years already, since 1968. So, I could not refuse.

I decided to speak on the role of certified public accountants in general; and of your organization, the Association of Certified Public Accountants in Public Practice in particular, in safeguarding the liberty and nurturing the prosperity of our people.

“Liberty and Prosperity under the Rule of Law.” This was my guiding philosophy during my more than eleven years in the Supreme Court from 1995 to 2006; ten years as associate justice and one year as Chief Justice. Now, it is still my favorite clarion call.

The Imperatives of Liberty and Prosperity

Let me bring your attention to December 21, 2005. On that day, I assumed office as Chief Justice of the Philippines. Immediately, I declared my vow to lead a judiciary characterized by four Ins: integrity, independence, industry and intelligence; and one that is morally courageous to stand its ground against the onslaughts of influence, interference, and indifference.

Verily, I envisioned a judiciary that is impervious to the plague of “ships” — kinship, relationship, friendship and fellowship. And one that battled what I call the ACID problems of (1) limited access to justice by the poor, (2) corruption, (3) incompetence and (4) delay in the delivery of quality judgments. In reforming the judiciary, I focused on these four ACID problems that corroded justice in our country.

The Supreme Court is mandated to watch over not only the entire judiciary, but also the Philippine bar — the vineyard from which our judges take root. Accordingly, I looked for legal professionals who courageously upheld truth and justice above everything else, above even their own and their clients’ interests and causes. I wanted to see the emergence of competent and ethical lawyers who were willing and able to stand for their convictions against all odds; to carry on in spite of seemingly insurmountable opposition; and to be beacons for the weak, the oppressed and the marginalized.

This vision of a reformed judiciary and a revitalized legal profession was directed towards two loftier goals of safeguarding the liberty and nurturing the prosperity of our people under the rule of law.

The Role of Courts as the Great Equalizers

It is easy to see the role of courts as the great equalizers between the citizens and the government. It has become usual for people to seek refuge in the halls of justice when conflicts arise. This need becomes more urgent when the conflict is between individual freedoms — whether civil, political or economic[1] — on the one hand; and, on the other, the awesome powers of the State and governmental institutions.

By civil liberties I mean, in particular, the inviolability of our persons and our homes from arbitrary searches and seizures, those guaranteeing our freedoms of abode and travel, and the so-called Miranda rights of persons accused of crimes. The battle for civil liberties is in fact a never-ending saga of trials and triumphs for the judiciary and for our people. And so will such struggles continue to dot the pages of our nation’s history.

Ironically, how much lawyers know about protecting civil liberties seems to be negatively correlated with how little they have thus far devoted to nurturing the prosperity of our people. This is the reality that persists despite the Mandates of the 1987 Constitution: (1) to alleviate the plight of the marginalized and the poor; (2) to promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty; and (3) to achieve a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth[2].

The constitutional mandate to achieve the goal of prosperity was given to all three departments of government: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. In my book Leveling the Playing Field[3], I underscored the balancing role of the judiciary in our government. I said that while the Supreme Court was keenly aware of the continuing need for “eternal vigilance” in protecting our hard-won political freedoms and civil rights, it also recognized its increasingly important role in economic development.

Let me quote directly from that book: “[The Court] knows that integrity, stability and predictability in judicial decisions are needed to achieve the nation’s goal of prosperity and progress. Moreover, it joins our policymakers in their desire to attract investments both local and foreign; to elevate the gross national product, the gross international reserves; the per capita income of our people, the stock market index and other growth indicators[4].”

That is to say, “The Supreme Court safeguards not only food but also freedom; not only jobs but also justice; not only indulgences but also integrity; not only development but also democracy; not only prosperity but also peace.”

I am truly convinced that the prosperity of our people requires as much nurturing in the present century as that accorded to liberty in the past. To be relevant, courts must be constantly attuned to the needs of the present and the vagaries of the future, so that they can respond in a timely and prudent manner to the people’s ever-expanding well-being. How courts cope with the stark realities of poverty has become the litmus test for the fulfillment of their mandate to weigh the scales of justice in favor of the downtrodden and the neglected[5].

Amid this paradigm shift in the role of the courts in economic development are welcome moves to redefine poverty as a “deprivation of essential assets and opportunities to which every human is entitled[6].” Under this new definition, the right to prosperity is elevated to the level of a universal human right. Hence, it definitely needs attention, cultivation and protection by the courts — nay, by everyone.

In short, the battle for liberty and prosperity is in the final analysis a battle for the poor and the marginalized, the forgotten and the deprived. Indeed, freedom and political equality are meaningless to people who wallow in grinding poverty, debilitating disease and inexplicable hunger. Human dignity requires both liberty and prosperity, both democracy and development.

ACPAPP’s Role in
Liberty and Prosperity

Professional organizations like the ACPAPP form part of what is broadly referred to as civil society. Civil society organizations have a long tradition in the Philippines. Informal groups and other forms of citizen associations have been in existence even way before the term “civil society” was consciously conceived. Our realization and appreciation of the full potentials and power of civil society is a fairly recent development, however. Needless to say, civil society has been in the forefront of the fight for liberty. Popular action has brought down a dictatorship; it has also rejected a once populist, but later perceived to be corrupt, administration. Thus has “People Power” been carved into the consciousness of our citizenry — lying latent while restrained, but deadly when unleashed. For this reason, civil society is considered a pillar of our democracy, the conscience of government, and the overseer of governmental actions. In this sense, it precedes the judiciary as the vanguard of our freedoms and the protector of our liberties.

But civil society operates not just in the political arena; most of the time, it operates outside of it. Noteworthy in fact are its contributions to the provision of basic social services; grassroots organization and development; resolution of conflict situations; and various trainings in human rights, gender equality, credit and debt repayment, and about almost everything else in the whole gamut of human activity.

Civil society should likewise be credited for directing attention and channeling resources to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged majority of our society. This all-encompassing role of civil society makes it a necessity in a democracy — as essential to good governance as a robust media and an idealistic student movement.

Legal Framework for Participation Like any other entity, civil society exists and operates within the legal framework laid down by our Constitution and our laws. Thus, it enjoys all the rights guaranteed to all persons under the Bill of Rights; among these are the freedoms of speech, association, and assembly;[7] and the right to information on matters of national concern[8]. Owing to the constitutional mandate to ensure the people’s participation at all levels of policymaking[9], the government is duty-bound to accord civil society an environment suitable to the latter’s viability and buoyancy. For this reason, civil society organizations (CSOs), people’s organizations (POs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been granted tax exemptions and other benefits — including Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds — for their activities.

The legal limits of the participation of civil society in our nation’s affairs are therefore circumscribed only by the same Constitution and laws that sustain it. Within legal bounds, it may strongly advocate a certain position, but it must at the same time respect the rights enjoyed by other persons — especially with regard to fair comment, privacy and disclosure. It may work actively in human resource organization and mobilization, but it must take care not to overstep the boundaries of legitimate people’s actions and assemblies.

As expressed in the objectives of a particular people’s organization, it must “pursue and protect, within the democratic framework, the [people’s] legitimate and collective interests and aspirations through peaceful and lawful means.”[10]

In fine, civil society must draw the line between, on one side, legitimate protest and active participation in government; and, on the other side, unlawful mass actions, interference and destabilization efforts. One only needs to be reminded that democratic space is healthy for the advancement of both democracy and development, while anarchy is destructive of both liberty and prosperity.

Role of ACPAPP and Civil Society

From the foregoing discussion, it is obvious that civil society in general and ACPAPP in particular assist the three great branches of government in their common effort to uplift our people from the plagues of misgovernance, tyranny, poverty and want. Specifically, it can also play a significant role in promoting economic development by supporting judicial initiatives along this line. That support can take various forms.

First, civil society can initiate the judicial process by prosecuting or defending cases and causes that bear upon economic development. As you know, the judiciary cannot act, unless appropriate proceedings are initiated by proper parties. Here, civil society can tap the help of professional lawyers’ groups like the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Philippine Bar Association, and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).

Second, civil society should push for the legal empowerment or the use of the law by the poor to exercise more control over their lives. On this point, let me refer to an ADB-commissioned study[11] on how legal empowerment contributes to good governance, poverty reduction and other developmental goals.

That study recommended 1) raising awareness of the law and the rights it confers through a mix of informational/educational campaigns and trainings; 2) extending legal assistance, so that the poor can take action to assert their rights or push for the enforcement of judgments; and 3) ensuring participation by the poor or their representatives in local governance structures.

Third, civil society can advocate collective cooperation in solving poverty. Ingenious ways of reducing this problem have recently been aired in the wake of global recognition of the widening gap between the rich the poor. Calls to reduce poverty include proposals to “buy” peace by seeing to it that what would otherwise be allocated to military spending and other concerns are rechanneled towards providing for the “world’s poorest of the poor, whose societies are destabilized by extreme poverty and thereby become havens of unrest, violence, and even global terrorism.”[12]

A myriad of other possibilities can be added to the list of areas in which civil society may operate and be involved. For sure, the field of cooperative endeavors, as much as civil society itself, is sprouting and evolving.

Conclusion                       

ACPAPP as a microcosm of civil society has a big stake in ensuring the liberty and prosperity of our people. Like you, I realize that the road to attaining the twin objectives of liberty and prosperity may be long and difficult. But with your help and active participation, the vision becomes clearer and our resolve firmer. Please join me in tirelessly searching and fearlessly espousing both jobs and justice, food and freedom, investments and integrity, economics and ethics, development and democracy; in short, Liberty and Prosperity.

Maraming salamat po.