One-man rule, warns Corona; ridiculous, says Malacañang

Chief Justice Renato C. Corona poses for a photograph during the 17th National Convention and Seminar of the Philippine Women Judges Association held at the Manila Hotel on Thursday. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Saying he was fighting for judicial independence and the rule of law, Chief Justice Renato Corona on Thursday warned that under President Benigno Aquino III the country was heading toward “one-man rule.

Malacañang, however,  dismissed as “ridiculous” Corona’s warning in a speech in Manila before the Philippine Women Judges Association (PWJA). “Democracy in this country has never been as vibrant as in the last decade,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters.

“Recent events point out that the nation is now in great peril of teetering toward one-man rule, where executive action aims to shield, to shackle judicial independence undermining the rule of all and erode the systems of governance, particularly the principle and the mechanism of checks and balances,” Corona said in his speech.

Corona, who is on trial before the Senate impeachment tribunal for alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, said the foundations of modern Philippine democratic society were being undermined by “transient power-holders of government who are solely mandated and obliged to preserve and implement them.”

“We are fighting for judicial independence to shield the judiciary from improper influence and pressure in our review of any grave abuse of discretion committed by any unit or agency of the Philippine government as well as in settling disputes between and among private and public groups and vested groups,” he said.

Popularity surveys

The Chief Justice said the judiciary should be isolated from “political pressures, popularity surveys, lobbyists, private partisan interests, undue influence and outright coercion from the executive and legislative departments or from major private stakeholders who are advancing their shared sociopolitical and economic interests.”

“Even if the executive and legislative departments are constitutionally mandated within certain reasonable equalities and privileges guaranteeing their balance of powers with the judiciary, the Philippine Constitution did not leave to the whimsical discretion of the transitory political holders the implementation and preservation of judicial independence,” he said.

Corona reminded the gathering that as magistrates “the credibility of courts is largely dependent on our independence.”

Cecilia Muñoz-Palma

“Fear has no place in our hearts. After all, our only must-have is a balm of a good conscience where we dispense justice correctly and administer it in an orderly fashion,” he said.

“Justice can only be effective if those who seek it from our courts leave our courts will full satisfaction that justice has been served and done. The task of maintaining the trust of the people in constitutionalism and the rule of law is a responsibility we all share,” Corona added.

He recalled that the country’s first female Supreme Court Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, who was appointed to the high tribunal by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1973, became a staunch dissenter in rulings that affirmed the decrees and actions enforced by the martial law regime.

Corona paid tribute to “21st century Cecilia Muñoz-Palmas” in the PWJA “who have all raised their voices in expressing unequivocal support for the supremacy of the Constitution and the judicial independence of the Supreme Court.”

Injustice

Present in the gathering were Supreme Court Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, who is also the PWJA president; executive vice president and Court of Appeals Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando; retired Supreme Court Justices Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, Carolina Grino-Aquino and Minita Chico-Nazario; and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.

Corona was applauded several times by about 300 female judges and justices who attended the 25th anniversary of the association with the theme “Women Judges: 25 years of Upholding Judicial Independence, the Rule of Law and Women’s Rights.”

“An injustice to one of us is an injustice to everyone,” De Castro said in her opening statement.

‘Ridiculous,’ Part 2

In a news conference, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. also branded as “ridiculous” Corona’s warning.

He pointed out that Corona’s impeachment trial was provided under the Constitution.

“Knowing how probably difficult it is, still that’s provided in the Constitution. That’s the right way, that’s the only process and I think that we should say that’s not one-man rule. That is adhering to what the Constitution says,” Belmonte said. With a report from Christine O. Avendano and Cynthia D. Balana