Drilon urges SC to also fight Palace meddling in courts
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/12/2008 1:44 PM
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Other than curbing corruption, the Supreme Court (SC) should also address perceptions that the judiciary is "losing its independence due to political interference and pressure from Malacañang," according to former Senate President Franklin Drilon.
In a statement three days after the SC dismissed a Court of Appeals (CA) justice and suspended another for two months due to irregularities and improprieties involving the Meralco-GSIS case, Drilon said the SC should also try to correct the perception that the "judicial branch is no longer independent from Malacañang."
“While we rally behind the campaign to cleanse the judiciary of corrupt judges and justices, we believe the Supreme Court must also address the public perception that the judicial branch is no longer independent from Malacañang,” Drilon, a former justice secretary, said.
“While the integrity of the courts is very important, equally paramount is the pubic perception that we must have a judiciary that is free and independent,” Drilon added.
“It does not help the image of the judiciary when people suspect that judges and justices are being appointed, not because of their competence and probity, but because their adherence and blind loyalty to Malacañang,” he said.
Drilon said the SC should "review the process by which Malacañang appoints members of the judiciary in view of criticisms that only those perceived to be loyal to Malacañang were being appointed to the high tribunal."
Under current laws and procedures, he said judges and justices are appointment by the President from a list submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
Drilon said the "legal community, in general, was supportive of the decision of the Supreme Court to dismiss a Court of Appeals justice and to sanction four others in connection with alleged improprieties in handling the Manila Electric Co.'s (Meralco) ownership case."
The SC slapped Associate Justice Vicente Roxas with dismissal after he was found guilty of multiple violations of the canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct, grave misconduct, dishonesty, undue interest and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service.
The SC also suspended for two months Justice Jose Sabio, reprimanded Presiding Justice Conrado Vazquez and Justice Bienvenido Reyes, and admonished Justice Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal for their roles in the case involving the dispute between the Meralco and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
The former Senate President said he agreed with the statement of SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez that the decision was a step forward in restoring public trust to the country’s justice system.
“But the public will trust only a judiciary that has both integrity and independence,” Drilon said.
During the Marcos regime, he said the "Philippine Supreme Court suffered extremely poor credibility, both here and abroad, due to its subservience to the president."
Drilon said proposals have been "submitted in Congress to amend the present set up of the JBC in order to insulate it from presidential and political interference."
He cited proposals made by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and House minority leader Rep. Rolio Golez "seeking to transfer the power to appoint justices and JBC members from Malacanang to the Supreme Court sitting as a whole." This, however, will require amendments to the Constitution.
“Reforming the selection process of the judiciary will prevent any speculation that there is bias or prejudgment on the part of members of the Supreme Curt when they decide on important cases,” Drilon said.
"These reforms should make the Supreme Court truly independent and impervious to speculation that decisions are subject to both pressure and acts of generosity from Malacañang," he added.
Drilon said the SC "has been under attack after it had ruled in favor of a petition filed by former Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri, allowing him to invoke executive privilege during the Senate investigation into the National Broadband Network (NBN) bribery scandal."
The Court stopped the Senate from compelling Neri, a witness in the NBN controversy, to answer questions that could link President Arroyo and her husband Mike Arroyo to allegations of corruption.
