Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma: Making a Real Difference

The souvenir program prepared as a tribute on her 80th birthday in november 1993 had six full pages listing the awards she had received up to that time. In the ensuing dozen years, many, many more awards have been added to that list. On October 21 in Washington DC, former Supreme Court Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma will be included in the International Women’s Forum Hall of Fame as one of an elite global list of Women Who Make a Difference.

Past recipients of the Women Who Make a Difference award include former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Katherine Graham of The Washington Post, mother of the civil rights movement Rosa Parks, journalists Barabara Walters and Christiane Amanpour, astronauts Sally Ride and Valentina Tereshkova (the first woman in space), chef Julia Childs, film star Audrey Hepburn, retired US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and heads of state Margaret Thatcher (Britain), Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway), Violeta de Chamorro (Nicaragua), Mary Robinson (Ireland), Hanna Suchocka (Poland), Eugenia Charles (Dominica), and Corazon Aquino, the only other Filipino (and one of only two Asians) to have received the award.

The International Women’s Forum (IWF) is a global organization of preeminent women of significant and diverse achievements who come together "across national and international boundaries to share knowledge and ideas, to enrich each other’s lives, to provide a network of support and to exert influence". Founded in the United States in 1982, the IWF has forums in 21 countries and counts among its members heads of state, top corporate executives, academics, artists, athletes, diplomats and makers of public policy and opinion. Current president is former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell.

The IWF Philippine Chapter was founded in 1992 by former Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani, Prof. Solita Monsod, Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, former Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor, and civic leader Maribel Ongpin. Members include international businesswoman Josie Natori, Ambassador Delia Albert, former Justice Harriet Demetriou, Mother Earth chair Tes Choa, former Civil Service Commissioner Cora-zon Alma de Leon, among others.

The award Justice Palma will be given on Friday (she is unable to make the trip to Washington due to health reasons, so her daughter Pearl will receive the award on her behalf) acknowledges the difference she has made in the lives of others, particularly women. Indeed, Cecilia Muñoz Palma’s life has been, from very early on, a series of firsts that made a significant difference for women who came after her.

A graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law, she topped the bar exams in 1937 with the highest grade of 92.6 percent. She went on to obtain two masters of law degrees, and is the recipient of nine honorary doctorate degrees–seven of them in law–from universities here and abroad.

She was the first woman prosecutor (in Quezon City in 1947) and the first woman district judge (in 1954), serving in Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental, and later Laguna and San Pablo City. Her stint as judge took her away from her family, and it was her commitment to her work, her willingness to accept hardship and sacrifice and her ability to still be a responsible mother that proved that women could indeed do the job.

In 1973 she was appointed to the Supreme Court, the first woman to occupy a seat in the high court.

Her convictions and courage were brought to the fore during the dark years of martial law, when she "dared to expose what she believed to be the shortcomings of the military regime, and openly criticize its disregard of constitutional principles and disrespect for the human rights of the weak and the oppressed," cited former Supreme Court Justice Jose B.L. Reyes.

In numerous Supreme Court opinions she eloquently and succintly argued her point, sometimes packing her family off to her native Batangas to write these opinions in seclusion, away from the reaches of those who would intimidate her.

After retiring from the Supreme Court in 1978, Justice Palma continued fighting for truth and justice, opting for constructive participation by running for–and winning–a seat in the 1984 Batasang Pambansa, representing Quezon City.

When President Marcos called for snap elections in 1985, Justice Palma issued a call for volunteers to campaign for Corazon Aquino. On the day her appeal appeared in print, a crowd gathered in front of her home in New Manila by the early morning. The crew of volunteers swelled into a formidable campaign force, all on the strength of the credibility and integrity of two women: candidate Corazon Aquino and Cecilia Muñoz Palma.

Justice Palma remained a beacon and rallying point throughout the campaign, the election of what would become the People Power Revolution of 1986.

And although she did not agree with President Aquino’s move to set aside the Marcos-era Constitution and craft a new one, she accepted the appointment to join the 1986 Constitutional Commission, and was elected by its members as the commission’s president.

Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma set new parameters and redefined standards of excellence not just for women, or for Filipinos, but for all women and for all those who serve in government. She has consistently faced up to the strongest and most threatening opposition with a strength of character and an unflinching belief in the truth that served and continue to serve as a light for those around her and for a nation once terrorized by a dictatorship and constantly plundered by dishonesty and corruption.

As former Supreme Court Justice Irene Cortez, The STAR founder Betty Go Belmonte and Lulu Castañeda wrote in her 80th birthday souvenir program, "...to believe in what one’s conscience says is good is one thing; to live according to one’s conscience in crucial moments is quite another. Many have fallen short of the courage that such decisions demand, but precisely by translating moral principles to action when called upon by the situation and irrespective of the consequences, Justice Muñoz Palma has contributed greatly to the strengthening of law and justice in our beleaguered nation."

Whether in government or in the numerous socio-civic positions she has held, Justice Palma has been the epitome of honesty and integrity. Not a single hint of corruption, scandal or anomaly is attached to her name in over six decades in public life. Rather, she has been responsible for exposing numerous wrongdoings, particularly in government, and has not compromised her beliefs and convictions in the face of threats, bribes or other means of persuasion.

She has said that "grandiose acts are not the measure of greatness; it is the small things that we do in the name of love and service to God, country and fellowmen that really counts".

Just as she had done when she faced up to the might of a dictatorship, or played the organ at daily noon and Sunday masses for many years at the St. Thomas More Chapel at the Ateneo in Padre Faura while she was with the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, Justice Palma continues to speak and act in the name of love and service to God, country and fellowmen. Even though, at almost 92 and frail of health, she is no longer at the forefront of the battles we as a nation are confronted with, Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma stands as an example of courage, honesty, integrity and humility that we must all strive for.