Corona defends SC review of Palace, Congress actions

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Renato Corona has defended the Supreme Court (SC) in exercising its constitutional duty to review actions of the Palace and Congress, saying it is not stepping on the powers of the two other co-equal branches of government.

Speaking during the 49th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) at the Manila Hotel on Tuesday night, the country’s top magistrate said judicial review is a power vested on the SC by the Constitution as the “vanguard of rule of law in our system of government.”

“When the Supreme Court invokes its power of judicial review, it does not assert its moral or constitutional ascendancy over the other two co-equal branches of government. It only reminds all and sundry of the non-negotiable supremacy of the Constitution,” he said.

“Let justice be done though the heavens fall,” he said.

He added: “The power of judicial review is not an exercise of dominance or interference in the exclusive affairs of another department. It is in fact the means established by the Constitution itself to preserve the peace and stability of our political system so that the possibility of a constitutional crisis or a clash of powers may precisely be avoided.”

It was the first public pronouncement made by the Chief Justice on the issue of judicial review after criticisms on recent orders of the SC stopping the Palace’s order on midnight appointments of the previous administration and the impeachment of Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez in the House of Representatives raised by President Aquino himself.

Asked if his statement was in response to the criticism of the President, Corona told The STAR after his speech that “it applies to all.”

He stressed that attacks and criticisms on the judiciary “matter very little, if at all” for as long as it does the right thing.

“When everything is said and done, there is no better defense than the balm of a good conscience. Beyond this, an upright and God-fearing magistrate can do no more,” Corona said.

He added: “It is the magistrate’s integrity that keeps the balance and equilibrium of the scales of justice on an even keel. And as long as that scale tilts neither to one side nor the other, that is the assurance that our democracy is alive and our system of justice deserves the people’s trust.”

Corona said attacks on its judicial independence are no longer new to the High Court.

“Ever since I can remember, all sorts of accusations have at one time or another been heaped on it, from the truth to the downright malicious,” he said.

Mr. Aquino had said the status quo ante order issued by the SC temporarily reinstating former National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) secretary Bai Omera Dianalan-Lucman, a former official identified by the Palace as a midnight appointee, could have “far-reaching consequences,” including “chaos and paralysis in the executive branch.”

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., on the other hand, called on the SC to respect the exclusive authority of Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings, saying the status quo ante order it issued “emasculates the power of the House to exact any form of accountability” from Ombudsman Gutierrez.

Corona said the judiciary is just performing its duty to protect and defend the Constitution and the rule of law by rendering decisions based on facts and law without fear or favor.

“The Constitution and the rule of law will never bend to the ever-shifting political winds and passions of the moment because it is the anchor that keeps the ship of state from being tossed aimlessly about or even tipped over by the waves of passing political and social events,” he said.

He said the judiciary cannot ignore its duty as “vanguard of constitutionalism and the rule of law in our system of government.”

And in exercising this power of judicial review, the SC does not violate the principle of separation of powers and encroach on the powers of its co-equal branches, Corona said.

He said that with this power, the SC is given the duty to “reinforce, guarantee even, the maintenance of political equilibrium among the three co-equal branches of government” by providing “an effective system of checks and balances.”

Corona admitted that the judiciary does not have either the power of the sword as wielded by the executive or the purse as controlled by Congress, but “it wields the power of the pen or the authority to interpret the Constitution and the laws.”

Quoting Alexander Hamilton in The Federalist No. 78, the Chief Justice admitted that the judiciary “is easy to attack because it does not have the means to defend itself.”

“It has no sword. It has no purse. Other than the decisions it writes and its limited power of contempt, there is really nothing much it can do to fight a propaganda war. That is not its business anyway,” he said.

The Chief Justice believes that the SC continues to enjoy the confidence of the people by just doing its duty of upholding the rule of law in government.

“The rule of law is what governs modern society. Our people allow the rule of law to dictate how they go about enforcing their rights and seeking redress for their grievances only because of the trust and confidence they have in the legal system,” he said.

“It is this trust and confidence in the rule of law that prevents anarchy and mob rule from holding sway,” Corona added, while admitting that the judiciary is burdened with the heavy responsibility to preserve and enhance the people’s trust and confidence in constitutionalism and the rule of law.