One of those in the running for a slot in the Supreme Court (SC) made no qualms in admitting his friendship with the relatives of the appointing power to the judiciary, President Arroyo.

In the second day of public interviews with aspirants to the SC, appellate court Justice Luis Bersamin, one of the 17 contenders for the SC seat recently vacated by Justice Adolfo Azcuna, confirmed his closeness with Arroyo’s first cousin Erlinda de Leon, and her husband, Carlos de Leon.

The couple work as special assistants of the president and allegedly also “picks” SC hopefuls for the president.

“They are my friends,” Bersamin said of the de Leons, but insisted that he would not “make them intervene” for his possible appointment to the High Court.

The couple is also close to Bersamin’s bosom buddy, newly-appointed SC Justice Diosdado Peralta. The de Leons nominated Peralta for the position of Ombudsman in 2007, but Merceditas Gutierrez, a classmate of First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, eventually clinched the anti-corruption job.

Peralta made it however, to the SC, and was appointed on January 14. He replaced Justice Ruben Reyes who hung his robe on January 2.

Old friends

It was Bersamin who nominated Peralta to the SC. The new SC justice meanwhile showed his support for Bersamin in today’s public interview of SC aspirants.

He watched the interviews from a projector propped outside the SC training room, constantly referring to Bersamin as “the best.”

The two had known each other way back in 2002, when they were both judges in the Quezon City regional trial court. Peralta was the judge of that lower court’s Branch 95, while Bersamin was judge of Branch 96.

Bersamin alluded to Peralta as his “backer.”

He cleared talks, however, of him emerging as a frontrunner in the race to the SC because of Peralta’s backing. Instead, he harped on his seniority at the Court of Appeals (CA).

“I’m ranked 15th in the CA,” he said, adding that the SC could be a long shot for him if the tradition of appointing more senior justices to the High Court would be observed.

Political family

Aside from his closeness with Peralta and the De Leons, Bersamin’s alignment with the dominant political clan in Bengued in the North Luzon province of Abra, surfaced as a possible threat to his independence.

Bersamin’s brother, Eustaquio “Kit” Bersamin is the current governor of Abra. Another brother and former governor, Luis, was slain in 2006, allegedly under the orders of political rival Vicente Valera in 2007.

The Judicial and Bar Council, which vets nominees to the judiciary to the president, sounded off on how his exposure to politics could make him vulnerable to outside pressures.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno, JBC ex-oficio chair, inquired how Bersamin would remain impartial as a jurist upon knowing that both of his brothers belonged to Arroyo’s political party, Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino.

“Your brother belongs to the ruling party,” he said. “Does that not give you a line to the appointing power?”

But Bersamin doubted that his brother’s alliance with the administration would do wonders for his attempt for a seat at the SC. He added that Eustaquio, along with his whole family hardly asked about his work in the judiciary. “They have shied away from me,” he said.

Independence

CA Justice Aurora Lagman also pressed on how he would fend off favors from friends both outside and inside the judiciary.

Bersamin said that he would not “abandon his principles just to accommodate the request of other people.”

He said that he was able to prove this in 1998 when, as a regional trial court judge, he was allegedly promised by then President Joseph Estrada of a promotion to the CA in exchange of a favorable ruling.

Bersamin said the case involved Estrada’s padrino at the Philippine National Police. The retired officer was purportedly considered to head the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, a violation of the condition that a BJMP authority should be active in service at that time.

“I rejected the overtone of my promotion,” he said, and decided against the appointment.

“No matter what you promised me, I will abide by the law,” he said.

Economic matters

On the other hand, tax court Presiding Justice Ernesto Acosta, another SC applicant, expressed his support for amendments in the Constitution to reduce the jurisdiction of the court over cases involving economic matters.

Calls for charter change have recently been revived in the lower house on the premise of economic reforms.

Under the 1987 Constitution, the Court’s expanded jurisdiction required it to look into transactions entered into by the government, including those that are economic in nature.

Acosta said that “The Court should not be involved in decision-making that is purely economics.”

He said that if constitutional violations are palpable in executive agreements, the Court should only look into the probable abuse of discretion of the executive officials involved, but should remain “passive” on factors which may be damaging to investments.

He cited how the Court’s ruling in Garcia v. the Board of Investments disallowing the transfer of a petrochemical plant from Bataan to Batangas sent investors packing. They eventually moved to Thailand.

“We have to observe and respect our commitments to those foreign investments,” he said.