Category Archives: Columns

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the agency mandated to recommend appointees to the judiciary, is facing two serious and urgent constitutional problems: First, is Congress entitled to two seats and two votes in the JBC? And second, in lieu of acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio who inhibited, who should preside over the JBC proceedings to select nominees for the top judicial post? Continue reading →

In the past three Sundays, I wrote about the qualifications, duties and role of the chief justice. My purpose was to help nominees understand the intricacies of the office they are seeking. Also, I wanted to suggest some standards to the Judicial and Bar Council, the public, and eventually the President, in evaluating the nominees. But today, let me digress a bit. Continue reading →

In the distant past when I was still a young practicing lawyer, the Supreme Court was a forbidding fortress. Its thick, sturdy walls segregated the justices from the rest of the country. The Supreme Court magistrates took a vow of silence and lived in hermetic isolation. Rarely seen, they were better read than heard. Because they were thought to possess infinite wisdom like the legendary deities on Mount Olympus, no one dared question their decisions and actions. Continue reading →

Of the eight functions or duties of the chief justice (CJ) that I wrote about on June 17, the most important is the first—to be primus inter pares, to be the first among equals in deciding cases in the Supreme Court. Continue reading →

Who should be the new chief justice (CJ)? Before choosing who, we must first know what: What are the qualifications and functions of the CJ? On qualifications, the Constitution requires all members of the judiciary to be “of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.” In addition, Supreme Court justices—including the CJ—must be natural-born citizens, at least 40 years old, and must for 15 years have been lower court judges or practiced law for the same period. Continue reading →

In its written “Judgment” dated May 29, 2012, the Senate convicted Chief Justice Renato C. Corona and imposed “the penalty of removal from office and disqualification to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines.” Continue reading →

Proud to be Filipino. This was how I felt, and still feel, after the Senate impeachment court rendered its historic decision. I am proud that our constitutional democracy works; that the rule of law is alive and can solve our conflicts and problems; that we no longer need extra-constitutional methods, like people power, to cleanse and reform ourselves. Continue reading →

The Senate is on the threshold of history. For the first time ever, it will complete an impeachment trial tomorrow. Unlike in the case of former President Joseph Estrada that ended in a walkout, it will have the singular opportunity to render a historic decision based on the evidence presented by the parties. By this judgment, the Senate and the senators will be judged by our people and by the world. Continue reading →

Up to now, I cannot fathom why the lawyers of Chief Justice (CJ) Renato C. Corona called Ombudsman (OMB) Conchita Carpio Morales to the witness stand. In a litigation, a party presents a witness to prove its allegations, or to contradict the evidence of the opposing side. Continue reading →

Rising to the challenge of several senators, Chief Justice (CJ) Renato C. Corona agreed to testify and bare to the Senate all his properties and assets and to explain why the nondisclosure or undervaluation of these properties and assets, especially his dollar and peso deposits, does not culpably violate the Constitution or betray public trust. And that neither do these undisclosed and undervalued assets constitute ill-gotten wealth. Continue reading →