i THE PHILJA JUDICIAL JOURNAL
Inspirational Messages From The Bench
January - December 2000
JANUARY - MARCH 2001 Vol. 3, Issue No. 7 iii iv
SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES
CHIEF JUSTICE Hon. HILARIO G. DAVIDE, Jr.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICES Hon. JOSUE N. BELLOSILLO Hon. JOSE A.R. MELO Hon. REYNATO S. PUNO Hon. JOSE C. VITUG Hon. SANTIAGO M. KAPUNAN Hon. VICENTE V. MENDOZA Hon. ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBAN Hon. LEONARDO A. QUISUMBING on. BERNARDO P. PARDO Hon. ARTURO B. BUENA Hon. MINERVA GONZAGA REYES Hon. CONSUELO YÑARES SANTIAGO Hon. SABINO R. DE LEON Hon. ANGELINA SANDOVAL GUTIERREZ
ACTING COURT ADMINISTRATOR Hon. ZENAIDA N. ELEPAÑO
DEPUTY COURT ADMINISTRATORS Hon. BERNARDO T. PONFERRADA Hon. JOSE P. PEREZ
CLERK OF COURT Attorney LUZVIMINDA D. PUNO
ASST. COURT ADMINISTRATORS Attorney ANTONIO H. DUJUA Attorney ISMAEL G. KHAN, Jr. (Chief, Public Information Office)
ASST. CLERK OF COURT Attorney MA. LUISA D. VILLARAMA
DIVISION CLERKS OF COURT Attorney VIRGINIA A. SORIANO Attorney TOMASITA M. DRIS Attorney JULIETA Y. CARREON v
SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES
CHIEF JUSTICE Hon. HILARIO G. DAVIDE, Jr.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICES Hon. JOSUE N. BELLOSILLO Hon. JOSE A.R. MELO Hon. REYNATO S. PUNO Hon. JOSE C. VITUG Hon. SANTIAGO M. KAPUNAN Hon. VICENTE V. MENDOZA Hon. ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBAN Hon. LEONARDO A. QUISUMBING Hon. BERNARDO P. PARDO Hon. ARTURO B. BUENA Hon. MINERVA GONZAGA REYES Hon. CONSUELO YÑARES SANTIAGO Hon. SABINO R. DE LEON Hon. ANGELINA SANDOVAL GUTIERREZ
ACTING COURT ADMINISTRATOR Hon. ZENAIDA N. ELEPAÑO
DEPUTY COURT ADMINISTRATORS Hon. BERNARDO T. PONFERRADA Hon. JOSE P. PEREZ
CLERK OF COURT Attorney LUZVIMINDA D. PUNO
ASST. COURT ADMINISTRATORS Attorney ANTONIO H. DUJUA Attorney ISMAEL G. KHAN, Jr. (Chief, Public Information Office)
ASST. CLERK OF COURT Attorney MA. LUISA D. VILLARAMA
DIVISION CLERKS OF COURT Attorney VIRGINIA A. SORIANO Attorney TOMASITA M. DRIS Attorney JULIETA Y. CARREON vi
PHILIPPINE JUDICIAL ACADEMY
Board of Trustees
Hon. HILARIO G. DAVIDE Jr. Chief Justice Chairman
Hon. JOSUE N. BELLOSILLO Senior Associate Justice, Supreme Court Vice-Chairman
Members
Hon. AMEURFINA A. MELENCIO HERRERA Hon. ZENAIDA N. ELEPAÑO Chancellor Acting Court Administrator
Hon. CANCIO C. GARCIA Hon. FRANCIS E. GARCHITORENA Acting Presiding Justice, Court of Appeals Presiding Justice, Sandiganbayan
Hon. DANILO B. PINE Dean ROMULO BORJA President, Philippine Judges Association Exec. Vice-President, Philippine Association of Law Schools Hon. ILUMINADA C. CORTES Executive Judge, Presiding Judge, MTCC, Br. 4, Baguio City Executive Officials
Hon. AMEURFINA A. MELENCIO HERRERA Hon. ANTONIO M. MARTINEZ Chancellor Vice-Chancellor Head, Administrative Office Hon. PRISCILA S. AGANA Executive Secretary Head, Finance Office
Academic Council Hon. AMEURFINA A. MELENCIO HERRERA Chair Dean PACIFICO A. AGABIN Hon. RICARDO C. PUNO, Sr. Constitutional Law Civil Law
Hon. OSCAR M. HERRERA, Sr. Hon. ROMEO J. CALLEJO, Sr. Remedial Law Criminal Law
Hon. ALFREDO L. BENIPAYO Hon. HILARION L. AQUINO Court Management Ethics and Judicial Conduct
Professor ROMAN F. MABANTA, Jr. Dr. PURIFICACION V. QUISUMBING Commercial Law International Law and Human Rights Head, Research & Publications Office Fr. RANHILIO C. AQUINO Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy Professor MYRNA S. FELICIANO Head, Academic Office Legal Method and Research
ACA ANTONIO H. DUJUA Atty. IVAN JOHN E. UY Special Areas of Concern Court Technology Judicial Reforms Groups Hon. AMEURFINA A. MELENCIO HERRERA Presiding Officer DCA REYNALDO L. SUAREZ Head, Judicial Reforms Committee vii
Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera Chancellor
Dr. Purificacion Valera Quisumbing Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Advisers
Dr. Pacifico A. Agabin, Constitutional Law Justice Ricardo C. Puno, Sr., Civil Law Justice Oscar M. Herrera, Sr., Remedial Law Justice Romeo J. Callejo, Sr., Criminal Law Justice Hilarion L. Aquino, Ethics and Judicial Conduct Justice Alfredo L. Benipayo, Court Management Professor Roman F. Mabanta, Jr., Commercial Law Dr. Purificacion V. Quisumbing, International Law and Human Rights Fr. Ranhilio C. Aquino, Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy Associate Dean Myrna S. Feliciano, Legal Method and Research ACA Antonio H. Dujua, Special Areas of Concern Attorney Ivan John E. Uy, Court Technology
Editorial Staff
Attorney Orlando B. Cariño Attorney Jack Andrew O. Miranda Emmanuel C. Ignacio Melanie H. Perez Armida M. Salazar Michael S. Santos Queency M. Sara Blythe M. Lumague
ix Table of Contents
Officials of the Supreme Court of the Philippines ...... v
Officers of the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Philippines ...... vi
Foreword Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera ...... xii
Family Courts Family Court Judges: Instruments of Peace and Solidarity for Filipino Homes Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... ……2
PHILJA and UNICEF: A Natural Partnership Mr. Philip Wan ………...... 9
Training the Trainers Justice Antonio M. Martinez ...... 15
Ethics and Judicial Conduct
Traits of a Good Judge Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr. ………...... …20
The Few and Honest Justice Leonardo A. Quisumbing ……...………28
By Justice, By Truth and By Peace Justice Renato C. Dacudao ...... ……...... 34
Looking into the Eyes of Lady Justice Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... …………43 x Continuing Judicial Education
Effective Teaching Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera (ret.) ...... 52
Educating the Frontline of the Judiciary Justice Jose C. Vitug ...……..…………...... 56
Training Par Excellence Presiding Justice Salome A. Montoya ...... 61
An Exchange for Judicial Learning Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... 67
Training the Vanguards of Our Courts Justice Bernardo P. Pardo ...... 73
The Academy Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera (ret.) ...... 78
Judicial Excellence
The PHILJA Corps of Professors and The Pursuit of Excellence Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... 85
Pursuit for Judicial Excellence Justice Angelina S. Gutierrez ...... 92
The Role of Court Stenographers in the New Millennium Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... 97
On Retrospection, IntroIntroIntrospection and The Turning of a Century Justice Alfredo L. Benipayo ………………...... 103 xi The Guardians of Justice Justice Conchita C. Morales ...... 107
A Better Judiciary Through Better Judges Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... 112
Justice and Country Before, Now and Always Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... 117
Strive To Be The Best Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr...... 126
In Pursuit of Excellence Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... 133
Age Quod Age Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr...... 138
Centennial Judges Justice Arturo B. Buena ...... 144
Unity In The Service Of The Judiciary Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr...... 149
Corporate Rehabilitation Justice Reynato S. Puno ...... 155 xii FOREWORD
This is a volume of inspirational messages and talks delivered by the members of our highest courts – the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals – on various occasions: principally before judges, judicial employees and candidates for the judicature. Not a few times have some of our colleagues in the Academy asked what value there might be in reproducing them in our Judicial Journal.
We have always advanced the proposition that for a judge, deciding about rights and arbitrating between disputes, should be more than a function. It should be one’s life, for if it is so, then one will bring to bear on the discharge of his judicial duties the very best qualities of mind, will and spirit. The ills that plague the Bench share a common denominator: the lack or the absence of commitment! And there will hardly be any commitment when one thinks of judging as a mere task one has to perform.
Judges need models, and they need inspiration. We all do. We have every right to look up to the members of our highest courts as models and sources of inspiration.
What you will find shared in these pages are their dreams, their visions and their hopes. Because they have had their own share of life’s trials, and the perils of their profession and their commitment, they can inspire – and these pages do inspire.
xiii Their messages of inspiration, and gems of thought should not suffer the fate of being consigned to oblivion. That is the rationale for this issue!
AMEURFINA A. MELENCIO HERRERA Chancellor
Family Courts
Inspirational Message Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. Training Program for Family Court Judges March 24, 2000 Development Academy of the Philippines, Tagaytay City
Opening Remarks Mr. Philip Wan 1st Regional Multi-Sectoral Seminar on Juvenile & Domestic Relations Justice September 26, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Justice Antonio M. Martinez Training of Trainers for a Comprehensive Justice System for Children, Youth and Families October 14, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City 2 FAMILY COURT JUDGES: INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE AND SOLIDARITY FOR FILIPINO HOMES
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
The Philippine Constitution is the only Constitution in the world which mandates as one of its State policies, that -
“The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution.” (Sec. 12, Article II)
And enshrines one separate article on the Family. This is Article XV, Section 1 which thereof reads:
“The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation. Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development.”
Section 2 thereof lays down the foundation of the family. It reads:
“Marriage, as an inviolable social insti- tution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State.”
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the Training Program for Family Court Judges, on March 24, 2000, at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), Tagaytay City. 3 Two institutions are recognized: (1) marriage and (2) the family. Marriage is the foundation of the family which, in turn, is the foundation of the nation. As to marriage, the State is mandated to protect it. As to the family, the State is directed to strengthen its solidarity and to actively promote its total development. Our Constitution obviously recognizes the fact that the family antedates nations and is a basic and fundamental social institution. Therefore, without Filipino families, there cannot be a Filipino nation. Will and Ariel Durant said: “The family is the nucleus of civilization.”
In her sponsorship speech for this Article on the Family (Record of the Constitutional Commission), Com- missioner Teresa Nieva said, in part:
“The rights of the person, however, have a fundamental social dimension in the constitution of the family. The family as a natural society exists prior to the State or any other community. Thus, Pope John Paul II has rightly said that the future of humanity passes by way of the family. From this it follows that the family possesses, as given by the Author of nature Himself, certain inherent and inalienable rights which are intrinsic to its very existence and perpetuity.
x x x
“We Filipinos are truly a family-centered culture and this is one of our real strengths as a nation. We are poor in many ways but not in our instinctive love and commitment to family life. Our core family values may yet prove to be our greatest contribution to the rest of the 4 contemporary world where family life has been continually eroding.”
Thus, in order to preserve the family, the concerns of the family and its members must be the continuing outlook of Government. Family affairs are at once simple and complex. One can find simplicity under a regime of harmony and prosperity, but indescribable complications in an atmosphere of chaos and want. One way of ensuring that each member of the family is protected in his rights is by maintaining special courts whose members are highly skilled and efficient in dispensing family justice. I refer, of course, to the Family Courts and the Family Court Judges. As to the latter, I mean you. Yes – you.
The four-day training program you all went through under the able guidance of the PHILJA, with financial support from the British government, represented here by Ambassador Collins, is intended to enhance your capacity and skills as Family Court Judges. You have heard the resource speakers precisely define what a Family Court is. Local experts on Family Law from the Bench, the Bar, and the academe, as well as our esteemed guest lecturer, Judge Copley, have related their experiences and shared their insights so that you all may be enlightened on your specific roles as Family Court Judges. You are not ordinary judges who rule according to the evidence and the applicable laws in specific instances. Your decisions affect not just the private fate and rights of individuals; they would affect the very foundation of the Filipino nation.
You are, verily, instruments in the protection and preservation of the family. In a larger sense, you are instruments of peace and solidarity for Filipino homes. Indeed, much is demanded from you. For this you must not complain. Only from those to whom much has been given by God that much is demanded. 5 Since it is undisputed that domestic bliss is one of the primordial concerns of civilized society, the program you have just undertaken has virtually broken the family into its most relevant components to address the issues where disharmony may set in.
Most families, of course, begin with marriage. If all marriages end up like a fairy tale, there would be no need for Family Courts and Family Court Judges. Alas, the phrase “fairy tale” exists because not all miserable real-life characters have “fairy godmothers” they may run to for succor, and not all relationships are lived “happily ever after.” In reality, people – even the enviably happy ones – do encounter family problems that can leave the body, mind or heart scarred for “ever after.”
Domestic violence, you learned from Professor Feliciano, is a “hidden problem” that cannot be measured with accuracy in view of its private nature and our culture of patriarchal fealty. According to various studies, women and children are more at risk at home than anywhere else because of the primal instinct of men to use brute force when reason fails. A wife victimized by her husband can just pack her bags and leave, but if she ever wants to be rid of him permanently, the law provides that she can petition the court to sever the marital bond by some legal fiat; establish their respective rights during and after such severance; and fix their property relations.
Children, more often than not, are the ones who suffer most from the digressions of grownups. There are no illegitimate children, it has been said, only illegitimate parents. If parents separate, the children’s concept of a perfect family is forever shattered. Depending on their emotional maturity and stability, they may or may not recover from such disillusionment. If they are abandoned, 6 they end up as street children, consigned in their youth to cheap or hazardous labor, mendicancy, or prostitution. They are the lucky ones. Others are abducted for ransom, for white slavery, for their innocence, or worse, for their body parts. Some unfortunate souls are never given the chance to see the light of day; as unborn humans, they are discarded by uncaring mothers like body waste, excreted in toilets or dumped together with refuse. On the other hand, some babies are put up for adoption by parents who have no sufficient means of raising them.
To bridge the chasm between justice, on one end, and the abused and exploited child, or the battered wife, on the other, Family Courts must always be vigilant in protecting women and children. I am sure that this training program has shed some light on how to minimize courtroom trauma on the part of parties belonging to the same clan. Mr. Justice Oscar Herrera explained the exclusive original jurisdiction of Family Courts. A presentation was made of video-conferencing technology, which would allow the testimony of a modest woman or a youngster to be taken at a venue far removed from the intimidating courthouse and lawyers. You were taught some techniques in taking children’s testimonies. Fr. Aquino lectured on how your behavior as judges and the condition of your courts alter the mindset of young or feminine litigants. Even the application of child psychology was discussed at length.
To me, this is a wealth of information you can use to make the Family Court system effective and efficient. The many things you have just learned point to you the necessary ingredients of your success as instruments of peace and solidarity for Filipino homes: the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of Esther. 7 After four days of hard work, I pray that you, indeed, have all learned something from this training program. It would be a pity if you did not, because I expect you to be missionaries of change. I expect the output of this affair to reach the farthest reaches, the inner recesses of your salas.
After all has been said and done, I would like to congratulate, first, the PHILJA for again facilitating a priceless activity. My hat off also to the resource persons who competently handled their assignments. And to you, my brothers and sisters in the Judiciary, words cannot express how delighted I am with your output in and contribution to this program. Bear in mind, however, that the knowledge you accumulated in the past four days must be shared instead of relegated to the dustbin of your heads. The domino principle may well play a positive role in further improving our Family Courts.
Of course, this affair would not have materialized if not for the unwavering support of the British Govern- ment. On behalf of the Supreme Court and the Govern- ment of the Philippines, I would like to thank Ambassador Collins for the generosity of the Queen.
And so, in this Lenten season, I bear my own cross, the cross of breakdown in family values. The burden can only be lightened with your help – as instruments of peace and solidarity for the Filipino families.
Thus, I leave you with this fervent prayer of St. Ignatius:
“Lord make me an instrument of thy peace, Where there is hatred let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; 8 Where there is despair, hope; Where they is darknees, light; and Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; Be loved and as to love; It is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
Good day and God bless you abundantly. 9 PHILJA AND UNICEF: A NATURAL PARTNERSHIP
Mr. Philip Wan Manila Deputy Representative and Senior Programme Coordinator UNICEF
Justice Antonio Martinez, Dr. Purificacion Quisumbing, Assistant Court Administrator Antonio Dujua, Resource Persons, Staff of the Philippine Judicial Academy, Participants and Guests, Greetings and Good morning.
The voice of wisdom tells us that the greatest tragedy in life is not to have one’s dream unfulfilled, but not to have any dreams to fulfill. I believe that all of us here have dreams and goals that inspire us to act and add meaning to our lives. The dream that brings us together is our desire to champion the cause of children, and promote a child-friendly environment built on rights, justice and responsibility. The Philippine-UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation aims at promoting a child-friendly movement such that every child, boy and girl, will be protected against childhood illnesses and malnutrition. Every child will go to a friendly school. Every child will be protected from abuse. Every child
* Delivered during the Opening Ceremonies of the First Regional Multi-Sectoral Seminar on Juvenile and Domestic Relations Justice, on September 26, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 10 will be provided opportunities to grow into a responsible citizen.
As of 1999, some 2,000 youth have been sentenced or detained, an alarming increase of 40% over 1996 – for offenses ranging from murders to rape, theft and drugs. There are almost 8,000 pending criminal cases related to children below 18 years. The apparent causes of the increasing number of young offenders are related to poverty, dysfunctional families, gang membership and low educational attainment. Equally alarming is the large number of children who are victims of abuse, whether in the home or outside – child rape, incest, sexual exploitation and bias against the girl-child.
The child is the core of society. The child’s behavior and state of well-being is a reflection of our present society and an indicator of the society-to-be. Hence, it is our duty as responsible adults to address issues affecting children. While the causes of offending behavior are numerous and complex, they are partly a product of environment in which these children live. This is supported, for example, by findings on the correlation between child abuse and juvenile delinquency. There is a high probability, based on analysis of statistics, that many adult criminals were street children, abused and neglected in their prime or were juvenile offenders. The mixing of young offenders with adult criminals in the same detention centers and inappropriate rehabilitation measures are major contributing factors to persistent criminal behavior. How we treat and handle young offenders has as much impact as having appropriate 11 laws and institutions that care for children. It is not a matter of “them” as offenders, but rather of “us,” the society as a whole, working together in the spirit of justice and rights, to care, protect and guide our children. The young offenders should be given the opportunity to reform and assume a constructive role in the society.
The promotion of a child-friendly movement requires a paradigm shift in the administration of justice. We need to move away from the traditional approach of seeing justice as RETRIBUTIVE, a violation of the laws of the State with its accompanying punishment, and instead see justice as RESTORATIVE. The alternative approach emphasizes the human dimension of every action – it focuses on the deed, not the doer, thereby facilitating the rehabilitation process and reintegration into the community. This new paradigm will require initiatives and innovative programmes at the community level to divert children’s energy from criminal acts to constructive activities.
A crucial vehicle for change is the training of the five pillars of the justice system, namely the law enforcers, the prosecutors and public defenders, the judges and court personnel, the corrections, and the community not only in the context of children who are victims of crimes, but also of children in conflict with the law. The presence of participants from all pillars echoes our shared views that the administration of justice is not the exclusive domain of the courts or law enforcers, but is the joint responsibility of the different sectors in the society. 12
As partners in the pursuit of a child-friendly movement, we at UNICEF are very happy to be associated with the initiatives of the Supreme Court, through the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA). We wish at this juncture to acknowledge other partners, namely the Philippine Government, the Netherlands Government and United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.
UNICEF’s joining hands with PHILJA is in tune with the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on the initial report of the Philippines in 1995. Observing the shortcomings of the prevailing juvenile justice system, the Committee recommended that the Philippines undertake a comprehensive reform of the administration of juvenile justice. This should be in the spirit of the Convention and other relevant international standards such as the Beijing Rules, the Riyadh Guidelines and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, and the reform is to be supported by appropriate training.
Significant progress has been achieved in recent years to give a more human face to the juvenile justice system. Bills on a Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System have been filed in both Houses of Congress and a National Dialogue on Juvenile Justice has just recently been conducted. Another milestone is the enactment of the Family Courts Act, which provides for a more child-friendly system of adjudication of juvenile cases, and a continuing 13 education program on child and family laws and other related disciplines for judges and personnel of the Family Courts. The recent designation of seventy- three (73) Regional Trial Courts as Family Courts is a very positive development. UNICEF is presently supporting the setting up of video-conferencing equipment in selected Family Courts and the drafting of new rules of procedure on the taking of testimony of child witnesses.
We are confident that this multi-sectoral training, the first in a series, will add a new dimension to the way we see child justice. It will empower us to make a substantial difference in the lives of children. The challenge is to translate the knowledge gained into practical actions at every pillar. The challenge is to reform our prevailing system into a restorative form of justice. In that context, I would like you to consider the following propositions:
When you get back to your duties, please consider shifting the paradigm from Retributive to Restorative Justice in your own innovative ways. For example, from merely recording the number of cases filed against young offenders, focus your efforts on the number of cases settled and diverted from the formal court process. From the numbers arrested, concentrate on the numbers given advice and second chances. From the numbers sentenced, give attention to the numbers given suspended sentence or put on probation. From the numbers detained, focus on the numbers released on recognizance or placed in Youth Reception Centers. As members of your community, 14 concentrate your efforts on reintegrating rather than labeling them.
Thank you. 15 TRAINING THE TRAINERS
Justice Antonio M. Martinez (ret.) Vice Chancellor Philippine Judicial Academy
Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera, Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy; Dr. Purificacion V. Quisumbing; ACA Antonio H. Dujua; Professor Sedfrey M. Candelaria; Friends; Ladies and Gentlemen.
Before anything else, allow me to congratulate the organizers of this training especially you, the participants in this Training of Trainers for a Comprehensive Justice System for Children, Youth and Families. I am sure that this seminar-workshop was quite interesting and informative, and that it was worthy of your sacrifice to be away from your homes and loved ones for four days.
On behalf of the UNICEF, our partner in this seminar-workshop, and the PHILJA, my sincerest thanks for your enthusiasm, cooperation and participation in this project. Undoubtedly, each and every one of you made this undertaking a success.
As representatives of the five pillars of the justice system, namely the law enforcers, the
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Training of Trainers for a Comprehensive Justice System for Children, Youth and Families, on October 14, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), Tagaytay City.
16 prosecutors and public defenders, the judges and court personnel, the corrections, and the community, your training is a crucial vehicle for change not only in the context of children who are victims of crimes, but also of children in conflict with the law. Your presence echoes our shared views that the administration of justice is not the exclusive domain of the courts or law enforcers, but is a joint responsibility of the different sectors of society. Each one of you has a significant role to play in the sound and humane administration of justice which affects the children, the youth and the families in your respective communities. Each one of you is important and necessary just as each part of the human body is important and necessary to the well-being of the human body.
The immediate beneficiaries of your work or function in the administration of justice are the children, the youth and the family, whose well being and protection are mandated not only by the Constitution, but also by international agreements.
The family is the foundation upon which our society is built. Strong families make for a strong nation. As families fail, children suffer and our future is imperiled. Problems in our homes become a problem of society. Our Constitution recognizes the sanctity of family life with the assurance to protect and strengthen it as a basic autonomous social institution. Acting on this mandate, the Family Courts are directed to “preserve the solidarity of the family, provide the procedures for the reconciliation of spouses and the amicable settlement of family
17 controversy.” The Family Court System is a newly established part of the Justice System that touches in great impact the lives of children, families and communities. Our aim in this seminar workshop is to empower communities in the use of Family Courts and in turn enable them to function efficaciously and effectively. This is your initial training for a Corps of Family Court Trainers. You will then be mobilized to participate in and organize training activities nationwide.
In concluding this seminar-workshop, let me remind you that the youth is the hope of the motherland and our children are our jewels. I urge you to make a difference in the lives of children, youth and families whom you come across in your line of work. Do well whatever you are doing. As judges, prosecutors and public defenders, social workers, police officers and workers in welfare institutions – be a role model in your respective communities. Strive for the further advocacy of the criminal justice system in your various sectors to foster greater vigilance in the protection of children. As we bring this event to a close, I hope that you have learned something from this experience as much as we have learned from yours. As the Bible says, go and multiply. Teach to others the important lessons in this activity and encourage them to promote the protection of children, youth and the family in our society.
Finally, let the Certificate of Completion which each one of you will receive later on be a badge of recognition and honor, and a token of appreciation
18 from PHILJA and UNICEF for your fruitful participation.
Good day to you all and God Bless.
Ethics and Judicial Conduct
Inspirational Message Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr. 13th Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges January 14, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Justice Leonardo A. Quisumbing Judicial Career Enhancement Program for Regional Trial Court Judges (Basic Course) February 18, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Justice Renato C. Dacudao Convention and Seminar of the Union of Clerks of Court of the Philippines May 29, 2000 Fine Rock Hotel, Iloilo City
Inspirational Message Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. Pre-Judicature Program: Phase II July 28, 2000 Court of Appeals Auditorium, Court of Appeals, Manila 20 TRAITS OF A GOOD JUDGE
Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr. Supreme Court
Madame Chancellor Justice Ameurfina Herrera; Members of the Faculty; Fellow Judges; Friends; Ladies and Gentlemen.
First of all, I would like to thank Justice Herrera for her kind invitation for me to address you, the participants of the just concluded 13th Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly-Appointed Judges conducted under the joint auspices of the Philippine Judicial Academy and the U.P. Institute of Judicial Administration.
In the re-organization of the Judiciary in January 1983, I was appointed as Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Nueva Ecija, Branch 34, whose station is in Gapan, the first town of Nueva Ecija, right after San Miguel, Bulacan. My sala was originally located in a dilapidated building. However, soon thereafter, the provincial government constructed a two-storey concrete building, just behind the municipal building, as our Municipal Hall of Justice. My sala, which was housed on the second floor, was remarkable for having two portraits. One was a calendar portrait of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the 13th Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges, held on January 14, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 21 pasted just on top of the entrance of the courtroom. Below that portrait is written a promise of the Sacred Heart, which reads, “I shall bestow on them all the graces necessary in their state of life.” The other portrait is a life-size oil painting of the blindfolded Lady of Justice, with her right hand holding a sword pointed downwards on a pile of law books and on her left hand, she holds aloft the scales of justice. That magnificent portrait is on the right corner of the elevated rostrum of the Presiding Judge, facing the lawyers’ table and the public in the courtroom.
That portrait of the blindfolded Lady of Justice reminds me, as it should remind you, that our task or purpose as judges is to administer Impartial Justice to any and all litigants in cases pending before our courts, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, politically connected or “malakas,” or simply “mahina.”
The other portrait, that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with His promise to bestow graces necessary in our state of life, reminds me, as it should remind you, that our task as judges partakes of a divine endeavor. Our job, as judges, precisely exempts us from the biblical injunction: “Judge not so you will not be judged.” It reminds me, as it should also remind you, that we should always pray for divine guidance and assistance. Realize that among the gifts of the Holy Spirit are Wisdom and Perseverance which you will surely need, sooner or later. Incidentally, if you are Roman Catholics, why not go to Mass and receive Holy Communion at least twice a week? And 22 remember what St. Paul said: “If God is with us, who can be against us?”
Strive not only to be good judges, but to be the best judges in the country.
Rufus Choate, describing the best judge to the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts, said:
“In the first place, he should be profoundly learned in all the learning of the law, and he must know how to use that learning. x x x In the next place, he must be a man, not merely upright, not merely honest and well intentioned – but a man who will not respect persons in judgment. x x x He shall know nothing about the parties, everything about the case. He shall do everything about the case. He shall do everything for justice; nothing for himself. x x x If on one side is the executive power and the legislature and the people – the sources of his honors, the givers of his daily bread – and on the other, an individual, nameless and odious, his eye is to see neither, great or small; attending only to the ‘trepidations of the balance.’ x x x”
A good and impartial magistrate lends stability to his people. As judges, you should not only be impartial, but also appear impartial to inspire the trust and confidence of our people. A good judge will 23 rather be right than popular – and that is certainly not easy to do. In this connection, I would suggest that you keep and place on your worktable a copy of the Bible as well as a copy of the Code of Judicial Ethics. Do not just glance at them; read them. Read briefly portions of the Bible every now and then, daily if possible; it is also a book of prayer and inspiration at the same time. Read closely and follow the Code of Judicial Ethics so that you will not go wrong, whether inside or outside of your courtrooms.
Considering the psychosomatic relations between the mind and the human body, it is important to be physically healthy to stay mentally healthy. “Mens sana in corpose sano,” goes the Roman adage; and that means a “healthy mind in a healthy body.” Walking, not necessarily in a golf course, is still the best exercise. Considering the usually heavy workload of a typical trial court, with its deadlines and attendant stress, you cannot afford not to exert efforts to stay physically healthy. Develop a good sense of humor because laughter is still the best medicine. Strive to be pleasant with members of your staff, and their appreciative and happy countenance will brighten your day.
Let me tell you that a good judge has three (3) traits, all starting with the letter “m” in Filipino. These are:
(a) “Matalino” – This means mental competence and implies the good habit of reading not only law books, jurisprudence and commentaries, but also the classics. You must also be keen observers of 24 the advances in science and technology. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: “The life of the law has not been logic, it has been experience.” Nowadays, that “experience” has been expanded by science and also capsulized and stored through computer technology.
(b) “Masipag” – Industriousness. That is important because you must realize that: “Justice delayed is justice denied”; and
(c) “Matapat” – Be constantly true to your oath of office as judges. This implies loyalty, patriotism, honesty and integrity.
The traits “matalino” and “masipag” may dim or diminish for some reason or another, but never “matapat.”
On being “matapat,” let me offer you a role model – St. Thomas Moore. And who was St. Thomas Moore? Let me share with you the wording of the Dedication to St. Thomas Moore of our school annual in 1957 when I graduated in law. What that Dedication states is still true today, and I quote:
“In these days when the reign of greed has made men bend a wicked knee to offer idolatrous incense to a call of gold, sacrificing the principles of fair play, honesty and integrity – when godlessness has silenced the voice of conscience rendering meaningless the traditional concepts of justice and 25 charity – when the by-word “expediency” has become the norm of human actuations – when a stack of information is often mistaken for wisdom – when the world’s laughter is becoming more and more artificial – when holiness is not considered the most important thing in the world – indeed, it is refreshing and elevating and inspiring to be able to discern in the dark of the night a STAR, shining bright and unclouded, beckoning men to follow the thorny and narrow path of duty even unto the supreme holocaust of life itself.
The STAR is St. Thomas Moore, a Scholar, a Statesman, and a fearless uncompromising Chancellor, a Martyr and a Saint. St. Thomas Moore was a lover of truth…and truth is not changed by one’s loyalty to a king or by friendship or the weakness of an entire nation or the pleas of one’s family or by the fear of death…”
That is St. Thomas Moore who also happens to be the patron saint of lawyers.
As judges, you are also public officers and, hence, accountable to our people. I, therefore, strongly suggest that you memorize and faithfully observe Section 1 of Article XI of the 1997 Constitution which provides that: 26
“Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people; serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice and lead modest lives.”
Finally, as you leave the portals of this august hall of the Philippine Judicial Academy to proceed to and preside in you respective courts in the different parts of the country, bear in mind that you are like missionaries bearing the flaming torch of truth and justice to dispel the darkness of injustice, violence and disorder. Hold firmly and keep that torch of truth and justice shining brightly, and you will earn the gratitude and respect of our people. We hope and trust that you will exert your utmost in discharging your new responsibilities. With God’s help and your sincere adherence to your oath of office as judges, you cannot fail. You must not fail.
My friends, let me end this talk with a short poem entitled “ANYWAY” which is displayed on the wall of the Children’s Home of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. It is a good philosophy of life and a code of action.
ANYWAY
“People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will 27 accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked on the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got.
Anyway.”
Thank you. 28 THE FEW AND HONEST
Justice Leonardo A. Quisumbing Supreme Court
Your Honors:
Thank you for inviting me to your career enhancement seminar. I shall be very brief, because your certificates are now ready for distribution. Moreover, there is no reason to delay serving you sumptuous lunch thereafter. For my message today is nothing new: it is only a cross between a sona and a sermon, pared to the bone, and easy to take home.
But first, I must congratulate PHILJA for this innovative, though basic, course. I am sure it is one reason the Supreme Court’s score is improving in opinion polls – now mainly positive. Our Public Information Office Chief showed me a letter of the Makati Business Club’s chairman, who is also active in the Judicial Excellence Foundation. The letter said, “Compared to the S.C. ratings in the past, its current score is nothing short of phenomenal.” I am sure PHILJA and you have helped us attain this level of approval. The MBC chairman (Dick Romulo), however, warns us that the lower courts may have to work harder to improve the Court System’s rating. But I assure you, the Supreme Court is aware of the
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the Judicial Career Enhancement Program for Regional Trial Court Judges (Basic Course), on February 18, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 29 lower courts’ need to spur their performance, as we did launch last week the Blueprint For Action and Reforms of the Judiciary.
You will recall, if you please, what Jethro said to his son-in-law, Moses, concerning the need for and of judges in the first, second, and third levels.
When Jethro saw Moses settling people’s disputes everyday from morning till night, Jethro said, “Son, you are not doing this right. You will wear yourself out and these people as well…You should teach them God’s commands and explain to them how they should live and what they should do. But in addition, you should choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people…God- fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed. Let them serve as judges for the people on a permanent basis…If you do this, as God commands, you will not wear yourself out, and all these people can go home with their disputes settled.” (Exodus 18; 13-23)
Moses heeded his father-in-law’s advice. Not only because his own wife Zipporah seconded it, but also because in the Sinai desert the courtroom tent was very hot. Above all, he had really no choice in the matter if he wished to live out his Biblical average tenure up to age three score and ten (or 70) years. As it happened also, after Jethro, Moses had another and more important appointment: a meeting on Mount Sinai with God Himself. Jethro’s advice was unsolicited but timely indeed.
30 Perhaps I should tell you, however, that Moses did not delegate all of his judicial authority, much less abdicate his over-all responsibility. As advised by Jethro, he appointed leaders of thousand, hundreds, fifties and tens as permanent judges, thereby creating a judicial hierarchy. How about Moses’ role? He told the judges they should decide all kinds of small disputes, but they should bring up difficult cases to him. And thus Moses constituted himself the Supreme Court of one, without the perils of dissenting opinions that are so common in a democracy today. He also originated the idea of micro-courts, better known as conciliation and mediation courts whose procedures we are testing now.
If you wish, I could end my message here. But if you prefer, I would continue and treat of more current things like the sona. Incidentally, this is an acronym for “summons only, no attachment.” In other words, arms-length or hands-off policy for judges and sheriffs with delectable cases to avoid incidents that are like “nakakaaliw, ngunit nakakabaliw” (exciting but hallucinating) multimedia episodes. And it’s not all in the mind, as illustrated by a golfer’s anecdote.
Two assistant pros came upon a beautiful, young lady golfer who could not cross a morning puddle. “Come on Miss,” said the first assistant, and lifted her in his arms across the water. The second assistant later in the evening reproached the first. “Why did you do that? That’s against the rules of the club for us to even go near a female member. You’ll 31 be suspended.” Calmly, the first assistant replied, “I left the girl safely there in the fairway. Are you still carrying her?” (Cf. Wallace, Beyond the Fairway.)
Sometimes, even among judges, if not especially so, the mind could play many tricks. For this and other reasons perhaps, we find in the Code of Judicial Conduct (Rule 3.04) an astonishing admonition: “A judge should avoid unconsciously falling into the attitude of mind that the litigants are made for the courts, instead of the courts for the litigants.” But give a pause, and reflect: how can a judge avoid something that happens unconsciously? Even Sigmund Freud might have difficulty observing this rule! Try being unconscious for once, and avoid falling into something, at the same time.
But perhaps the Rule only wishes to say politely, that a judge should avoid the conceit of an egoist who believes the party litigants owe him a living. And with that, simply stated, I wholeheartedly agree. For in a republic, public officials, including judges, are mere stewards of authority, in the service of the people’s welfare. Our office depends on the public’s recognition that the Judiciary is indispensable to peace and order in a just and humane society under a democratic government.
Long ago, St. Augustine posited two scenarios while discoursing On Free Choice:
“If a people is well-ordered, serious, and a very vigilant guardian of public interest…a law allowing them to elect 32 their own magistrates to administer public affairs is justified…But if that people should gradually become dishonest and the elections corrupt, and the government in the hands of dishonorable and criminal men, the power of appointing to office is rightly taken from such people, and the choice should be limited to the few and honest.”
I hope our judges will remain among these few. But I am sure St. Augustine was not echoing PDI columnists commenting on public affairs nowadays. It is just truly coincidental, wittingly or unwittingly so.
Lest I go beyond my time limit, let me just end this message, with an oriental view (from Taoism) on Judgment expressed this way:
“The accused stands helpless before the Judge: Pen is poised to determine right from wrong. In one arbitrary stroke, Life is suddenly decided.”
(Deng, 365 TAO)
In a civil society, according to Deng, rules of conduct are a necessity. Concepts like righteousness and mercy acquire meaning. Truth and justice become pervasive values. Judgment as a process 33 becomes res publica. Just and due processes are enshrined. Judges being human, we take responsibility for our actions. No one is exempt from the need to make decisions, and to accept their consequences.
The paradox is such that, not only is each of us the ultimate judge; in a real way each of us is also the prisoner on the dock. On Judgment Day, you yourself will examine your own life and decide: Did you live well as a man and a judge, or did you waste your time in judicial office and your existence? Obviously, your own judgment will be marked NFA (No Further Appeal), for you and your conscience are in truth your own Supreme Court.
BON VOYAGE!
HAVE A HAPPY TRIP! 34 BY JUSTICE, BY TRUTH, AND BY PEACE
Justice Renato C. Dacudao Court of Appeals
My fellow government workers, ladies and gentlemen, a very pleasant and good afternoon to you all.
To me has been granted the distinct privilege to deliver an Inspirational Message in the concluding session of this two-day seminar for the Union of Clerks of Courts of the Philippines, which I almost mistook for a gathering or assembly of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, because of its acronym “UCCP.” But even if I had been totally mistaken, it would have not made a meaningful difference, because a gathering or assembly of God worshipping people of any sect or denomination, as well as a convention-seminar of the Union of Clerks of Court of the Philippines, especially this Sunday afternoon, would be united in the one quest and purpose of rendering unto every man his due, according to man-made laws that in reality draw their breath of life from, and are patterned after, the laws that God Almighty Himself wrote with His own fingers at Mt. Horeb/Sinai, the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments.
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the Convention and Seminar of the Union of Clerks of Court of the Philippines, on May 29, 2000, at the Fine Rock Hotel, Iloilo City. 35 It is noteworthy that the Talmud, the body of Jewish Civil and Canon law, contains this remarkable passage: “By three things is the world sustained: By justice, By truth, and By peace.” In other words, the first and foremost pillar that undergirds the world that we human beings inhabit is JUSTICE. And I am sure you must have noticed that the emblem or ensign of the Department of Justice, under whose administrative supervisory authority, the offices of the Clerks of Courts and courts lower than the Court of Appeals were before January 17, 1973, bears the motto: “Justitiae Pax Opus,” the Latinized version of the expression “JUSTICE IS THE WORK OF PEACE.” This is actually a passage from Isaiah, one of the five major Jewish prophets, Chapter 32, verse 17, whereof proclaims –
“And the effect of righteousness will be peace, And the result of righteousness: quietness and trust forever.”
Of course, I noticed, too, that you began this convention-seminar with an ecumenical prayer led by at least two participants of different creeds, which is as it should be, for prayer, as a profession of faith to an active Power, binds and elevates man to his Creator. All our labors ought to start and end with a prayer. In fact, the Good Book enjoins us to pray without ceasing. It is perhaps no accident that the first chapter of the Book of Psalms begins with this stately exordium:
36 “The wicked flees when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
“When a land transgresses, it has many rulers; but with men of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue.
“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them.
“Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.
“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is perverse in his ways.
“He who augments his wealth by interest and increase, gathers it for him who is kind to the poor.
“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
“He who misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit; but the blameless will have a godly inheritance.
37 “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord always; but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity. “Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
“A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor; but he who hates unjust gains will prolong his days.
“If a man is burdened with the blood of another, let him be a fugitive until death; let no one help him.
“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
“To show partiality is not good; but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
“He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor, than he who flatters with his tongue.
“When the wicked rise, men hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase.”
As Clerks of Court, you are the administrative chiefs of your offices. All of you are thus in a position of power and responsibility, and are leaders in your own right.
38 I would like to put you these provocative, and perhaps, rather at first blush, impertinent questions. But think through them seriously as there is substance in them.
Suppose everyone else were just like you, what kind of world would this be? What kind of courts shall we have? What if everyone did as you do – emulated the example you gave them – what would happen to our country, to your community, to the coming generation? Suppose every husband or wife were like you? Treated his wife or her husband the way you treated yours? Suppose every father or mother were your kind of a father or mother?
Suppose everyone else in your community took the same interest – felt the same responsibility – bore the same burden you do for civic and community affairs, what would become of your city? Or your town? And your court?
Suppose every citizen felt your allegiance – held the same concern for government and the public that you serve – what would happen to our democratic and judicial processes?
Suppose everyone were as humble, selfless, kind, patient, and thoughtful as you? Suppose all your friends were like yourselves, would you enjoy being around them? Would you cultivate them? Would you want them as friends?
What if all men or women were your kind of a Christian or a Muslim – with your kind of dedication 39 – your commitment – your devotion? What would happen to your church or your temple, if all men and women supported it, as you do? Suppose all men and women honored the Lord or Allah in their homes – in their jobs – in their social lives, the way you do? What would happen to the reputation of your God or your Allah?
Suppose everyone had the same burden for lost men that you have – the same attitude that he is his brother’s keeper?
What if your boy or your girl grows up to be just like you? He or she may! You owe it to him/her to be the kind of man or woman whose example is edifying to follow!
Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, made this pointed exhortation:
“Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called.” (Ephesians 4:1)
The theme of your convention-seminar, “Millennium, A New Vision, Renewed Dedication” is timely as it is pertinent. But howsoever it may be, let us not forget that as government employees, as servants of public weal, we are dealing with human beings just like you and me. Men and women with essentially and basically the same dreams and hopes, aspirations, needs and wants, the same pains and anguish. Sooner or later, in God’s own time and at His decree, we shall all go the way of all flesh: that is 40 the immutable law. But while we are here, let us do the best we can for those we are bound to serve. Anything done for others in the spirit of loving and unselfish service is always worth its while.
An unknown author says that there is a wonderful, mystical law of nature that the three things that we crave most in life – happiness, freedom and peace of mind – are always attained by giving them to someone else. Let us not look down on our jobs as something menial or lowly. In this very moral universe, we are where we are by the law of our being. Never allow the thought that you are of very little or of no use where you are. Definitely you are of no use where you are not. God wants to bless others through your lives, right where you live and work and play and socialize. He wants to work through you. But He can do this only if you are willing to be available – willing to yield your life to Him as a channel of selfless and dedicated service to fellow human beings. In this tough and difficult times, it is a source of solace and comfort to hold such jobs as you have now; not everyone is that blessed or privileged to be Clerks of Court of probably the most esteemed and highly regarded among the three grand departments of the government: the Judiciary. And now, let me conclude this message by quoting the penultimate paragraph of Bertrand Russell’s A Free Man’s Worship –
“United with his fellowmen by the strongest of all ties, the tie of a common doom, the free man finds that a new vision is with him always, shedding 41 over every daily task of the light of love. The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sights, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in which their happiness or misery is decided. Be it ours to shed sunshine on their path, to lighten their sorrows by the balm of sympathy, to give them the pure joy of a never-tiring affection, to strengthen failing courage, to instill faith in hours of despair. Let us not weigh in grudging scales their merits and demerits, but let us think only of their need – of the sorrows, the difficulties, perhaps the blindnesses, that make the misery of their lives; let us remember that they are fellow-sufferers in the same darkness, actors in the same tragedy with ourselves. And so, when their day is over, when their good and their evil have become eternal by the immortality of the past, be it ours to feel that, where they suffered, where they failed, no deed of ours was the cause; but wherever a spark of the divine fire kindled in their hearts, we were ready with encouragement, with sympathy, 42 with brave words in which high courage glowed.”
I want you all to know that I am grateful for the opportunity to be with you this afternoon. But above all, I want to express my special thanks to Madame Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera, Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy, and to Judge Priscila Sison Agana, Executive Secretary of the Philippine Judicial Academy, for giving me the opportunity to visit my home province of Iloilo.
More power to you all and God bless us all.
43 LOOKING INTO THE EYES OF LADY JUSTICE
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
Mme. Justice and Chancellor Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera; Pre-Judicature Chairman, Justice Ricardo C. Puno, Sr.; Justice Hilarion Aquino; Judge Sixto Marella; Members of the first batch of Pre- Judicature trainees; Friends and Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good afternoon.
I have been informed that there is an interesting statue of Lady Justice aloft the Market Square in Frankfurt, Germany. As with the traditional artistic portrayal of Lady Justice, she gingerly holds the scales but purposely grips the sword. Her long hair matches the length and flow of her robe. She is beautiful! Her beauty emanates from the purity of the truth she serves. Her regal bearing stems from the nobility of her labors.
But she is not blindfolded.
She stares wide-eyed with hints of petulance at the City Hall and the Palace of Justice across the street. The city officials who sit on the seats of political power and the judges who don the robes of
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the Pre-Judicature Program: Phase II, on July 28, 2000, at the Court of Appeals Auditorium, Court of Appeals, Manila. 44 justice are aware that this Lady holds eternal watch – ever calibrating, vigilant and scrutinizing – ensuring that justice shall reign. The officials know that the city and its people are keenly aware of Lady Justice as their champion.
Historically, it was the Greeks who conceived Lady Justice in Themis – one of the Greek Titans, an Oracle in Delphi and revered as the goddess of Divine Justice. The subsequent representations of Lady Justice came in the images of: (1) Dike – daughter of Themis and Zeus who dispenses justice but not divine justice; (2) Astraea – another Greek goddess with the same function; (3) Justitia – the Roman counterpart of Dike; and (4) Maat – an Egyptian deity and daughter of the sun god Ra. Lady Justice was not always artistically depicted blindfolded. A group of researchers arrived at a consensus that 16th century German artists introduced the blindfold innovation in irony. (Nevada Heritage News, Vol. 2, Issue No. 1, May 1987)
The two contrasting aesthetic interpretations of Lady Justice are not irreconcilable or incongruous. In dispensing swift and impartial justice, Lady Justice must be blindfolded. She dispenses no favors, and neither is she easily swayed by passion, personalities, rhetorics and theories. She yields not to the caprices and whims of litigants and advocates, but bestows what is just and fair. She clothes herself with objectivity and even-handedness, relinquishing in the process kinship and fellowship. She closes her eyes to the enticements of the flesh, lures of affluence and the seduction of popularity. 45
As sentinel of Law and Order, she is not blindfolded. She guards against the powers that set themselves despotic, absolute and supreme in complete disregard of the rule of law, equity and social harmony. She protects the weak from the subjugation of the powerful and defends their fundamental rights from any incursions in the free exercise thereof. She promotes peace.
My dear first graduates of the Pre-Judicature Program of the PHILJA, in a few minutes you will receive your certificates. You have arrived at the end of a fruitful journey. I have mentioned in my remarks during the Closing Ceremonies last 30 June of the First Phase of this program that that phase was designed to achieve initial internal transformation to prepare your minds, hearts and souls for judgeship, and that Phase II would lead you to the review of laws and jurisprudence most often encountered by judges. This voyage is an odyssey of the study of the non-legal and legal aspects of judgeship. You have thus been fitted in and equipped with the fundamentals of judgeship. I look forward to the bright and auspicious moment when you would be received as members of the Bench.
BUT, can you serve the Lady Justice well? Are you willing to be blind to persuasion, prejudice and personalities? Can you stare at the powers that be and proclaim: “Fiat justitia ruat coelum. Let justice be done; though the heavens fall.” In your vigil, can you stand against the forces that threaten to impose anarchy and loose chaos, then announce: “Never on 46 my watch!” And those of you who had received the Lady Justice’s mantle, have you been equal to the task?
Blindfolded or not, Lady Justice represents the fair and equal administration and dispensation of justice without corruption, avarice, prejudice or favor. But to most laymen, she is only a symbol, a mere idea. It is the magistrate who is looked up to as Justice enfleshed, the incarnate of Lady Justice herself. As I have also mentioned in my closing message at the first phase of this program – “to most of our countrymen, judges are the Judiciary, the personification of Justice. [Therefore] every impeccable decision by a judge is justice in its purest form. Every guilty person convicted is the law upheld. Every innocent man freed is truth defended.” And I add, every legitimate wrong redressed is peace ensured. Every right protected is Good triumphant.
The first time we met, I have stated, and may I reiterate, that in my own watch, “the Judiciary shall be nothing less than an entity that is independent, effective, efficient, and worthy of public trust and confidence. To accomplish this objective we will need, among other important requisites, members of the Bench who will unerringly adhere to the constitutional precept that public office is a public trust.” I also mentioned that the Pre-Judicature Program is part of the weeding out processes by which aspirants for the Bench are sifted from the chaff. I say now, especially for those who will survive the winnowing, that the magistracy is the furnace by which a lifelong quest for justice and truth is tested; 47 where the lessons learned and imbibed in the past are applied and shared.
Lady Justice is indeed a demanding mistress. But take heart! Your consolation lies in the beatitude: “Blessed are the single-hearted for they shall see God!” (Matthew 5:8) Fortunate indeed are they who have felt the smile of Lady Justice descend upon them for that could have been a foreshadowing of the more encompassing smile of the Divine.
Indeed, the life and times of a magistrate are not strewn with flowers or sprinkled with the occasional obligatory pains and floundering. It is a lifelong commitment to Lady Justice and the ideals she ennobles. The path is long, circuitous and arduous. The task is equally daunting. A judge who can accomplish the demands of Lady Justice in the same manner that a layman, or any man for that matter, can comply with the decrees of the church, seems for all appearances, intents and purposes, deserve the best accolades, if not the crowning reward of beatification.
Laudable is a judge’s single-hearted pursuit of magisterial excellence and its accompanying traits which include, but are not limited to, good leadership, exceptional management skills, utmost dedication, matchless efficiency, remarkable competence, unquestionable integrity and honesty, and unimpeachable independence of mind and probity. Peerless indeed is the stature of the judge who aspires and attains this level of singular achievement in obeisance to Lady Justice, and in the 48 pursuit of her goals – Justice, Truth, Peace, Equity, the Rule of Law and Order – things we dream of and hold dear in our hearts.
But what does it profit a judge who attains perfection all for his name and aggrandizement? For what end? In his watch, justice and peace might have prevailed which undoubtedly and indisputably is the consummate fulfillment of our dreams, and as already adverted to, an accomplishment of the highest order. Justice may indeed reign though the heavens fall. But the justice and peace of this world are still part of this world, a part of the glory of a world that one day will also pass away. Sic transit gloria mundi. So let us not forget the most important element and foremost truth in this quest. Everything we do and everything we are – must all be for the glory and honor of God and in the service of our country and fellowmen.
These thoughts I leave you to reflect on. I only pray that as the first graduates of the Pre-Judicature program, you will set the sterling standard of the magisterial mission set by Lady Justice.
If one day you encounter Lady Justice without the blindfold, you should be able to look straight in her eyes and proclaim: I have paid my dues! But today I have thrown down a different kind of gauntlet. It is up to you to enter the lists and rise up to the challenge. I have absolute faith in you.
So now I stand corrected. This day does not mark the end of a fruitful journey. Rather, your 49 journey to the perfection of justice for our people begins today.
Once again, I congratulate our indefatigable Chancellor, Mme. Justice Herrera; Vice Chancellor Martinez; our Pre-Judicature Chair, Justice Puno; all the esteemed Professorial Lecturers; all PHILJA officials and staff; and all of you dear graduates.
Godspeed! Continuing Judicial Education
Opening Remarks Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera (ret.) Corps of Professors First Plenary Meeting February 5, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Justice Jose C. Vitug Corps of Professors First Plenary Meeting February 5, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Presiding Justice Salome A. Montoya Judicial Career Enhancement Program for First Level Court Judges (Basic Course) February 25, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. Dialogue Between Judges of the Federal Court of Australia and Justices of the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan of the Republic of the Philippines March 30, 2000 En Banc Session Hall, Court of Appeals, Manila Inspirational Message Justice Bernardo P. Pardo 1st Judicial Career Enhancement Program (Advanced Course) for First and Second Level Trial Court Judges May 26, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Opening Remarks Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera (ret.) Pre-Judicature Program: Phase I June 19, 2000 Court of Appeals Auditorium Court of Appeals, Manila 52 EFFECTIVE TEACHING
Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera (ret.) Chancellor Philippine Judicial Academy
Justice Hilarion Aquino, Director Livingston Armytage, ACA Antonio H. Dujua, Esteemed Professors of the Philippine Judicial Academy:
This is only the second time that the Corps of Professors of the Philippine Judicial Academy meets. The first time was to get ourselves organized. This time, we gather to learn – for it is said that the very first step a teacher must take towards teaching effectively is learning earnestly. No teacher can hope to teach well who has not himself cultivated a love for learning and study!
It is our great fortune to have with us today Director Livingston Armytage, Director of the Centre for Judicial Studies in New South Wales, Australia. We can call his stint with us as the third phase of the Australia-Philippines Judicial Cooperation Project, which was initiated by Director Roland Rich of the Centre for Democratic Institutions in Australia. The first was the Australian phase where eight of our Justices and Judges went to Australia to look into and learn from their judicial system. The second was the Philippine segment, when we had Justices Bryan Alan Beaumont and Arthur Robert Emmett from the
* Opening Remarks delivered at the Corps of Professors First Plenary Meeting, on February 5, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 53 Federal Court of Australia with us and who conducted dialogues with our Executive Judges and the Justices of the Court of Appeals.
This time we have an expert from Australia on Judicial Education. He is internationally known. I had the privilege of meeting him for the first time in Reno, Nevada during the National Association of State Judicial Educators Conference in 1997. Even then, we had already discussed the possibility of cooperation in the field of judicial education. He is a foremost exponent of the need for judicial education and espouses the view that judicial education is a “distinctive process owing to the doctrine of judicial independence and a number of educational considerations.”
We have of course matured beyond the fascination with things foreign – but it is part of scholarship to listen to wisdom and inspiration and to be less distracted by considerations such as ancestry, race and pedigree. Educators in particular have never considered national boundaries restricting confines. So, today, I am sure we will all go forth from this assembly greatly enriched by the wisdom and experience that come to us from “down under” through Director Armytage.
PHILJA has just completed the first Advanced Course of the Judicial Career Enhancement program these last four days. This is how far we have already gone. Soon, we will be starting our regional tours to be able to reach out to more judges and judicial employees. PHILJA is also involved with more and 54 more projects, and while our Executive Officials, professors and staff are starting to chafe at the increasing workload, meetings and deadlines, we like to think that the Academy has made its mark as a significant institution in the Judiciary and has earned the trust and regard not only of the Supreme Court, but of all stakeholders in the judicial system.
The two sessions of Director Armytage today can be summed up in two short words: Teaching and Planning – both crucial components of education. Many try to teach, but not everyone succeeds in teaching well. Good lawyers and outstanding jurists are not necessarily effective teachers – and for the professors of the Philippine Judicial Academy, effective teaching is of the essence. And if education is to achieve its ends, it must be planned, and planned carefully. Clearly then, Director Armytage will address PHILJA’s primordial concerns.
I am sure, however, that Director Armytage will also learn from us, for there is much that is distinctive about PHILJA. In many ways, judicial education in this country has attained a maturity yet to be achieved in other jurisdictions. The fact alone that the PHILJA is a component of the Supreme Court and operates by its authority is quite distinctive. Furthermore, the high level it has achieved according to a study of the World Bank, is due in large measure to the dedication, expertise and ingenuity of its distinguished professors and professorial lecturers – and that means all of you.
55 So, welcome to your assembly. PHILJA looks forward to continuing collaboration with you all. 56 EDUCATING THE FRONTLINE OF THE JUDICIARY
Justice Jose C. Vitug Supreme Court
Let me start by telling you a story which I have narrated before. I know Justice Puno has heard it at least once, Mme. Chancellor Herrera, a couple of times. But I still hope to catch a few of you who have not heard or read it yet.
Newton Minow, former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications who, during his incumbency, extensively traveled around the globe (sounds familiar) recounted his findings of comparative law.
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Corps of Professors First Plenary Meeting, on February 5, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), Tagaytay City. 57 “After 35 years, I have finished a comprehensive study of European comparative law . . . In Germany, under the law, everything is prohibited, except that which is permitted. In France, under the law, everything is permitted except that which is prohibited. In the [former] Soviet Union, under the law, everything is prohibited, including that which is permitted. And in Italy, under the law, everything is permitted, especially that which is prohibited.”
Ours, of course, is an improved version of the Italian model.
The Judiciary can only be defined by what its members make of it.
The vision was clear: An institutionalized, integrated, professionalized and continuing system of legal education was needed to produce justices, judges, court lawyers and personnel who would be of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence, and who could assure the people of their right to speedy, honest and scholarly disposition of cases instituted by or against them before the courts. And so the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) was born in 1996.
We have since seen the outstanding performance of the Academy, and hardly is it surprising. The Academy can boast of an assembly of qualified educators, all esteemed experts in their 58 respective fields, who comprise its Corps of Professors. Like everyone else, I, too, feel confident of the continued success of the institution in its assigned mandate.
The Academy, under the leadership of its Chancellor, Mme. Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera, has surpassed all expectations. No other person could have likely accomplished so much in so little time as she has done. The Honorable Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera truly deserves great commendation.
The task of keeping the men and women in the Judiciary updated on law, jurisprudence, procedures, administrative policies, and related subjects is indeed a Herculean job. It is a duty, nonetheless, with which we are entrusted and which the Academy and its Corps of Professors has since so willingly and so capably undertaken. The task, of course, is never- ending.
While I have known outstanding judges who are master craftsmen of sound, eloquent and elegant decisions, sadly, however, I have also come across not a few fellow judges who may yet have to make the grade. The extent and gravity of the repercussions of inept judicial performance can hardly be within any accurate estimation. The impact of erroneous judicial decisions on the daily lives of victims of injustice could very well be irreparable at times. While the Judiciary is equipped with a self-correcting mechanism such as an appeal, an aggrieved party, 59 however, might find himself with not enough means and resources to pursue any further recourse.
Let me now divert just a bit.
The generally adopted method of instruction in the academe has also been in vogue in the legal education in this country and elsewhere. In PHILJA, particularly, the audience is composed of judges and men who are in the frontlines of the day-to-day dispensation of justice. The classroom-type of instruction, characterized by the lecturer imparting to his class, is a method which might be ill-equipped to fully elicit extremely valuable insights from the participants. Whenever practicable or feasible, I would think, the time allotted to the lecture segment could be reduced. The lecturer could then try to limit himself to a brief overview of the topic, setting its parameters along only the most significant lines in selected areas of interest. The second segment, the Open Forum, might be extended to include an exchange of ideas where the lecturer acts as the moderator or as the facilitator in the interaction process. This interaction can encourage involvement by the participants and can gather points which may not be otherwise anticipated and obtained.
I close this message by quoting the words from former Chief Justice Andres R. Narvasa on still another matter certainly no less inconsequential. In his “Reflections on Law and Justice,” he extorts:
“I think being a good judge requires first and foremost that one 60 should be a good person. Our legal training, our judicial experiences, must rest on the foundation of a strong character, a blameless personal life and an abiding belief that to work for justice is among the noblest of vocations, demanding the best of what we can give it. What makes one a good person is our own individual responsibility, involving as it does a treasure chest of values, virtues, personal objectives, social priorities, and oftentimes an intuition of what is good or bad.
In the end, we must be guided by our conscience, by faith and belief in ourselves, and trust and confidence in an always wise Divinity.”
Thank you for inviting me today. 61
TRAINING PAR EXCELLENCE
Presiding Justice Salome A. Montoya Court of Appeals
Today, as I address this group of judges who have just completed the Judicial Career Enhancement Program, my memory takes me back to the year 1958 when I was first appointed as Justice of the Peace in a remote town of my province of Rizal. I assumed the position barely three (3) years after I passed the Bar Examinations in 1955. At that time, recommendations for appointment to the Judiciary were a political privilege granted to senators, congressmen, governors and other politicians. The Judicial and Bar Council was unheard of and was probably farthest from the minds of our lawmakers and constitutionalists.
I entered the Judiciary with only a basic idea of what a judge should be, relying much on common sense and a practical working knowledge of the intricacies of presiding over a court hearing in the small courtroom, which was also the session hall of the municipal council. I went on to later become the Municipal Judge of the urbanized community of Makati where I stayed for about thirteen (13) years. The transition form my rustic destination to one of modern civilization was dramatic. But still the
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the Judicial Career Enhancement Program for First Level Court Judges (Basic Course), on February 25, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 62
appointment was more of a political favor although I would say that I was not exactly unqualified or unprepared for the position, having been an honor graduate and a Bar placer, not mention my fourteen years previous experience as Justice of the Peace and later Municipal Judge of Pililla in Rizal Province.
Why do I look back to these appointments? It is to recall that once upon a time, judges were left much to their own resources. There was no opportunity for training, for a formal program that would teach a judge the basic skills necessary for the discharge of the awesome responsibilities of a man in the Bench. Of course, I had attended many of the continuing legal education courses then offered by the U.P. Law Center. In fact, I have several certificates of completion in various topics but there were none of the trainings now enjoyed by our judges, thanks to the Supreme Court and the Philippine Judicial Academy which saw the need to continually train and enhance the knowledge and efficiency of our judges.
What a far cry our judges today are from the judges of old who were thrust into the Bench without even a formal orientation or training. Now, before judges assume their duties, they are given seminars, trainings and orientations that equip and prepare them for the tremendous task ahead of them. Of course, we had our annual conventions of judges but then they were more of socialization, campaigning for positions in the league, and a chance to enjoy the perks of the city. We listened to speeches, were 63 wined and dined. But nothing in these conventions prepared us for our responsibilities as judges.
For the dispensation of justice is not a routinary job that any lawyer can embark on. It requires not only moral qualifications but skill, competence, expertise and training that will teach a judge how to avoid pitfalls in his administration of justice, and be a man of integrity and probity worthy of respect from the public.
I have seen many new judges who, upon being appointed to the Judiciary, think themselves as far above the ordinary and display such arrogance and braggadocio that they hardly deserve to stay in the Bench. They display their inefficiency and ignorance of the law in such a manner that they necessarily invite petitions for certiorari, not to mention administrative charges.
It is no wonder that the docket of the Court of Appeals is clogged with complaints against lower court judges. How many cases have we in the Court of Appeals, which are investigations of judges whose incompetence is unbelievable. For instance, until now in the cases we review on appeal, we are surprised to know that a number of judges still do not know about the existence of the Indeterminate Sentence Law or how to apply the same properly. How many wrote decisions that are so ungrammatical, we wince and squirm in our seats as we read them in review. Remember, too, that the transcripts of the proceedings which are forwarded with the records of the cases 64 reveal a lot about the demeanor of the judge in the conduct of trials, especially on how he rules on objections.
It is the duty of judges to keep themselves informed of the changing laws and jurisprudence – to keep abreast of developments in the judicial system so that they may be worthy instruments of that blindfolded lady with a sword in one hand and the scales of justice in the other. We cannot afford to remain ignorant, uncaring and complacent in our discharge of judicial functions.
For they say that a man can be deprived of earthly possessions, a man can go hungry and still not complain. But when he is deprived of justice, he rises in arms and rebels, stakes his very life and liberty in the quest for the elusive justice to which he feels and knows he has a God-given right. And we judges should not be willing or unwitting instruments of injustice; we cannot afford to falter in this regard for we have the responsibility to give every man his due, lest we become tools that will make society lose its faith in the judicial system.
I always remember, so let me share with you what the famous poet and philosopher, Kahlil Gibran, wrote in his book The Prophet, a passage so relevant to our times and which should be instilled in the minds of every member of our society.
“Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he 65
were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in you;
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also;
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, so the wrongdoer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.”
Indeed, we all are responsible to society when a man takes the law into his own hands and demands his own brand of justice because he loses his faith in our courts.
As I close, it is with envy that I congratulate all of you as you graduate from this course. We missed all these training in our time. But if it be any added inspiration for you, the lowly Justice of the Peace of Pililla is now the Acting Presiding Justice of the second highest court in the land. Who knows, perhaps if the Philippine Judicial Academy had been born earlier, I would have been in the Supreme Court by now. So keep studying and training for that promotion which is the goal and ambition of every member of the Judiciary. 66
I wish you all good luck and the fulfillment of your dreams! 67 AN EXCHANGE FOR JUDICIAL LEARNING
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
Mme. Chancellor Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera; Mme. Presiding Justice Salome A. Montoya; Mr. Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena of the Sandiganbayan; Mr. Vice Chancellor Antonio M. Martinez; Mr. Justice Bryan Alan Beaumont; Mr. Justice Arthur Robert Emmett; Mr. Justice John Stanley Lockhart; Mr. Justice Jose Y. Feria; Solicitor General Ricardo Galvez; Colleagues in the Court of Appeals and in the Sandiganbayan; Friends:
Only very recently, Australia captivated audiences worldwide when it greeted the Third Millennium with a grand fireworks display that dwarfed most millennium eve celebrations across the globe. All eyes will again be on Australia as it plays host to the Olympics, the global sports festival held every four years to celebrate human achievement and foster harmony among participating nations.
Australia was also a gracious host to the Philippines when it accommodated Philippine jurists from 6 to 17 March on a study tour to learn more of the judicial and legal systems of Australia. The study tour is part of a judicial exchange program between
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the Dialogue Between Judges of the Federal Court of Australia and Justices of the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan of the Republic of the Philippines, on March 30, 2000, at the Court of Appeals En Banc Session Hall, Manila. 68 Philippine and Australian Justices and judges arranged by the Center for Democratic Institutions (CDI) of the Australian National University in Canberra and the Supreme Court, through the Philippine Judicial Academy or PHILJA.
This exchange program was conceived after some exchanges of letters between me, on behalf of the Supreme Court, and Director Roland Rich of the CDI. Then came the joint sponsorship by the Supreme Court and the Australian Embassy of the lecture of Justice Elizabeth Evatt, Vice-Chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and member of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal who came for the workshop for the CDI on Report Writing under the International Human Rights Treaties. Director Rich attended the lecture and the idea of the exchange program was further firmed up.
On behalf of my colleagues and peers in the Judiciary, I would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Australia Federation and the CDI for the study tour of our jurists which, I assure you, has proven to be both highly informative and meaningful.
The Philippine Judiciary welcomes prospects and avenues for continuing judicial education. Immediately upon my appointment as Chief Justice, I made public the Supreme Court’s mission and vision during my stewardship. Entitled “The Davide Watch: Leading the Philippine Judiciary and the Legal Profession Towards the Third Millennium,” the statement enumerated among the objectives of the Judiciary the vigorous implementation of “the 69 programs of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) on continuing judicial education on a broader basis.”
Our pursuit for continuing judicial education is premised on the undeniable truism that the law is dynamic. The law must adapt to social upheavals if it is to respond appropriately to new challenges and conditions. Our knowledge of the law, therefore, must not remain shackled to the past, mired in antiquity. This, I believe, is the spirit behind continuing legal and judicial education.
The PHILJA, under the very able leadership of Mme. Justice Herrera, is largely responsible for yesterday’s Colloquium and Dialogue Between Australian Federal Court Judges and Philippine Executive Judges held in Tagaytay City, as well as today’s Dialogue.
Verily, judicial knowledge and wisdom should not be sourced solely from within the Philippine Judiciary but also from without, that is, from other jurisdictions. With globalization and advances in “cyber-technology” and telecommunications, development in law and judicial practices and procedures vis-à-vis electronic multimedia exchange throughout the global village can hardly be ignored.
In my first year as Chief Justice, the Supreme Court sent its members on foreign trips to acquaint or update them on judicial practices in other jurisdictions. Mr. Justice Vitug observed the trends in the Federal and State Courts of New York. Mr. Justice 70 Puno attended the Singapore Conference on the proposed Transnational Code of Civil Procedure at the Singapore Academy of Law. Recently retired Mme. Justice Romero was sent by the Court to Israel to observe and study its judicial and legal system. The Supreme Court also sent Mme. Justice Santiago to a Judicial Colloquium in Vienna, Austria.
Late last year, Mr. Justice Panganiban and I attended the 8th Conference of Chief Justices of Asia and the Pacific. Several subjects were tackled, including Mutual Judicial Assistance and Judicial Education. The Philippines was cited in the field of judicial education, obtaining a favorable rating in a survey of 26 countries.
Also late last year, Mr. Justice Bellosillo, Mr. Justice Kapunan and I represented the Supreme Court at the World Jurist Association conference in Budapest, Hungary and Vienna, Austria.
All these form part of our effort to enhance our knowledge of the law and elevate our perspective to a global level.
Our cooperation with Australia has been fruitful, to say the least. Just last week, our governments, through Ambassador John Buckley of Australia and I, forged an activity agreement for the production of a Benchbook for Judges. This Bible for Judges would provide Philippine judges with easy access to the latest rules, laws, circulars, and the like pertinent to decision-making. The agreement was made possible through the Philippines-Australia 71 Governance Facility in collaboration with the Project Management Office of the Judicial Reform Project.
The exchange program between the Philippines and Australia speaks well of our nations’ commitment to continuing judicial education. For the Philippines, the program could not have come at a more opportune time, since our justice system is in the midst of reforms.
The members of our delegation to Australia, headed by Mr. Justice Pardo, returned with a wealth of knowledge that would certainly help our judicial reform efforts.
The second phase of the exchange program is the visit of eminent Australian Jurists. We are distinctly honored by the visit of Mr. Justices Beaumont, Emmett and Lockhart of the Federal Court of Australia. I am sure that their short visit also broadened their familiarity with the Philippine Judicial System and its challenges. They had earlier met with Philippine judges and today they have a long dialogue with you of the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan. I hope the exchange has been successful, that is, that our visiting Jurists have learned from us as much as we have learned from them. This would be the best standard for assessing the positive effects of the judicial reform program.
To Mr. Justices Beaumont, Emmett and Lockhart, I hope that we have given you something you can take back to your country. I am certain that the Justices and judges who attended the Colloquium 72 in Tagaytay City and the Dialogue toady have gained precious inputs from your views and insights.
As the second phase of our judicial exchange program draws to a close, I am confident that the cooperation between the Philippines and Australia will reach the outer limits of the program. I wish to emphasize that this is a continuing program. As such it shall be carried out through various media, not just through exchange programs but more importantly, by way of continuous communication and exchange of views. In many ways then, this closing session marks the beginning of further and strengthened relations between the Philippine and Australian judiciaries.
Just as the Olympics is animated by the spirit of cooperation towards global harmony, we shall transcend borders with our association with the Australian Judiciary, which we hope shall be a model for achieving global understanding at least with respect to the judicial sector. Together then, let us gather our experiences and meet head on the challenges of this Millennium and the future.
Good day! God Bless us all. 73 TRAINING THE VANGUARDS OF OUR COURTS
Justice Bernardo P. Pardo Supreme Court
Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera, Justice Antonio M. Martinez, Director Livingston Armytage, ACA Antonio H. Dujua, Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am happy to be with you for the closing ceremonies of the First Judicial Career Enhancement Program. This is an opportunity for me to meet and have lunch with you and Director Livingston Armytage of the Centre for Judicial Studies of Australia. You see, we were together in Australia during my recent trip there on a similar study program where we had the chance to exchange ideas and learn about the judicial system in that country.
When I was a newly appointed CFI Judge in 1975, I was privileged to be one of the participants in the Second Development Academy of the Philippines Live-in Seminar for CFI Judges. And even when I had been a judge for a long time that I thought I would never get out of judgeship, I was eagerly attending seminars for new and senior judges in Puerto Azul, Tagaytay and elsewhere until the Program Director and the Court Administrator decided that maybe I
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the First Judicial Career Enhancement Program (Advanced Course) for First and Second Level Trial Court Judges, on May 26, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 74 could be a lecturer instead of a participant. Whether as lecturer or participant, I relished my participation in the seminars of the Institute of Judicial Administration, until finally, I was named to the Supreme Court. Now, I am an Inspirational Speaker.
If I could read your mind, after you had been cloistered in this building for four days listening to lectures and participating in the entire sessions, you are now eager to pack and go home.
Looking at you today reminds me of my early days in the Judiciary. That was not so long ago. At that time, there was no Judicial and Bar Council, but sometime later, the Minister of Justice organized a body charged with screening nominees and applicants to the Bench. It was known as the Integrity Council which did the tedious task of selecting or screening members of the Bench for re-appointment during the reorganization, or searching for qualified candidates and recommending them to the President. After appointment and oath taking, the newly appointed judge was left to assume the position on his/her own resources.
On my part, I was fortunate to have been connected in the career service at the Office of the Solicitor General before joining the Judiciary. My training, exposure to court hearings and experience in the practice of law helped me a lot to cope with the demands of judicial work. There were no computers or complete set of books supplied by the Supreme Court. The judges then were left practically to their own resourcefulness. 75
I mentioned my experience in the lower courts to emphasize to you the importance of this opportunity for training and learning the latest in jurisprudence, rules and regulations including the technology that you need to effectively discharge your functions and responsibilities as executive judges. In our time, if we wanted to update ourselves on the latest jurisprudence, we secured our own books, we attended lectures at the UP Law Center, or we enrolled in schools offering special trainings and seminars, here and abroad. We did not have much training as you have now. But does that mean that we have better judges now than before? We would like to believe so, that is why you have justices like the ones before you this afternoon.
Seriously, the Supreme Court and the Philippine Judicial Academy’s program for continuing legal education for judges to enhance their knowledge and to make them more efficient and effective judges is indeed comparable with the best that institutions of learning abroad can offer. We should be thankful for that.
Soon, the Academy shall be implementing the law that before one can be nominated for appointment to judicial positions, he/she must have successfully completed a course in the Academy. This will assure that appointees to the Judiciary will be the most qualified and competent for the position and be fully prepared for the job.
76 This shows the determination and sincere objective of the Supreme Court to “refurbish and enhance the vitality of our justice system.” The Judiciary is not spared of criticisms as well as challenges from the public. There is likewise no end to the quest for true justice.
Aware and sensitive to the realities and the needs of our time, this judicial enhancement program for judges is the best answer to fulfill the Judiciary’s goals and the public aspiration of seeing that real and timely justice is dispensed to all litigants.
This is not to say that the annual convention of judges sponsored by the Philippine Judges Association is entirely worthless. For aside from getting to meet and know each other even only once a year, you learn through the experiences of fellow judges and honored guests.
The four-day “confinement” in this building will bring you a long way as members of the Judiciary. You will be equipped not just with the wisdom of the law, but modern technology. And you will have more confidence on the discharge of your functions than anybody else.
This is just a part of our continuing quest for excellence in the effective dispensation of justice. The functions of a judge can never be played by ear no matter how long you have been in this job. Your experience will be a tangible factor throughout your service in the Judiciary.
77 The Supreme Court and the Philippine Judicial Academy can be proud of you as the vanguards of our courts.
Congratulations for completing this Judicial Career Enhancement Program.
Thank you.
78
THE ACADEMY
Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera (ret.) Chancellor Philippine Judicial Academy
At last, the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) is able to comply completely with both its statutory and administrative mandates. The Pre- Judicature Program for aspirants to judicial posts was the last curricular program that remained to be implemented, and we commence it today as part of the Centenary Celebrations of the Supreme Court. You are its first students, and I certainly wish to welcome you all and to congratulate you.
It will belong to Mr. Justice Ricardo C. Puno, Sr., who chairs this program, to explain to you the nature and the goals of the Pre-Judicature Program. What I will do is introduce PHILJA to you.
For some time, it was thought that membership in the Philippine Bar was sufficient to enable a judge to be competent, efficient and effective. Persuasions have, quite fortunately, changed and throughout the world, judicial education is recognized as a pillar of judicial reform. Even before
* Opening and Welcome Remarks delivered at the Pre-Judicature Program: Phase I (As Prescribed by Section 10, R.A. No. 8557), on June 19, 2000, at the Court of Appeals Auditorium, Court of Appeals, Manila. 79
PHILJA, there were attempts at judicial education. Noteworthy among these were the measures instituted by then Minister of Justice Ricardo C. Puno, Sr. to enhance the selection process for judges and prosecutors by administering examinations designed to measure aptitude for the prosecution service and for the Judiciary. Then, too, for some time, the Institute of Judicial Administration of the University of the Philippines, particularly under the stewardship of now Associate Dean Myrna S. Feliciano of the U.P. College of Law, responded, at the instance of the Court, to the need for judicial education.
In 1996, the Supreme Court issued an Administrative Order that created the Philippine Judicial Academy as one of its component offices. In most other jurisdictions, judicial education is an initiative either of educational institutions, such as leading law schools, or of judges’ organizations. The Philippines is unique in that the Philippine Judicial Academy is a component of the Supreme Court and acts by its authority. Two years later, Congress enacted Republic Act 8557, thus granting the Academy statutory existence and personality.
Judicial education in this jurisdiction then is not optional. It is mandatory, and its end is the very same end as all other judicial reform measures: the emergence of a more credible, more accessible, more efficient Judiciary.
The professors of the Academy are judiciously chosen. None applied for the position. They were 80
nominated on the strength of their distinction as justices and judges, professors and authors, litigation lawyers and academicians alike. Their credentials were perused by the Board of Trustees of the Academy, chaired by the Chief Justice himself. Their appointments issued from the High Court itself.
The Academy has a department each for constitutional law, civil law, criminal law, ethics and judicial conduct, remedial law, commercial law, jurisprudence and legal philosophy, international law and human rights, legal method and research, court management, and court technology. As the clusters of disciplinary concerns will readily show, PHILJA aims at providing knowledge, cultivating desirable values and fostering honorable conduct, as well as honing skills of members of the Bench. We address ourselves to nothing less than the three domains of education: cognition, affection and behavior. Truly then, the Philippine Judicial Academy is the educational arm of the Philippine Judiciary.
For some time now, we have oriented newly appointed judges, offered judges who have served on the Bench for some years a judicial career enhancement program, aside from attending to the educational needs of court personnel, as well as those of quasi-judicial bodies. Today, we are happy to open PHILJA’s doors to you. Welcome to this historic activity, compañeros and compañeras.
As Chancellor then of the Philippine Judicial Academy, I formally declare the First Phase of the 81
First Pre-Judicature Program of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, pursuant to Section 10 of Republic Act No. 8557, now open. Judicial Excellence
Keynote Address Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. Corps of Professors First Plenary Meeting February 4, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Justice Angelina S. Gutierrez 14th Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges March 17, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. 2nd Convention and Seminar for Court Stenographers April 29, 2000 Grand Majestic Convention Center, Cebu City
Inspirational Message Justice Alfredo L. Benipayo Convention and Seminar of the RTC Clerks of Court Association of the Philippines June 10, 2000 Development Academy of the Philippines, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Justice Conchita C. Morales 15th Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges June 30, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City Inspirational Message Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. Pre-Judicature Program: Phase I June 30, 2000 Court of Appeals Auditorium Court of Appeals, Manila
Keynote Address Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. Convention and Seminar of the Philippine Judges Association (PJA) August 10, 2000 Waterfront Hotel, Cebu City
Inspirational Message Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr. Judicial Career Enhancement Program for Regional Trial Court Judges (Basic Course) August 31, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. 1st Regional Seminar for Judges, Clerks of Court, Branch Clerks of Court, Legal Researchers and Sheriffs of the Regional Trial Courts and First-Level Courts of Region II September 22, 2000 Ivory Lodge, Tuguegarao City
Inspirational Message Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr. 1st Regional Multi-Sectoral Seminar on Juvenile Justice & Domestic Relations Justice September 29, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City Inspirational Message Justice Arturo B. Buena 16th Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges October 20, 2000 Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City
Inspirational Message Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. 2nd Regional Seminar for Judges, Clerks of Court, Branch Clerks of Court, Legal Researchers and Sheriffs of the Regional Trial Courts and First-Level Courts of Region VII October 27, 2000 Bohol Tropics Resort, Tagbilaran City, Bohol
Inspirational Message Justice Reynato S. Puno Training Seminar for Judges on Corporate Law, Insolvency and Rehabilitation November 29, 2000 Development Academy of the Philippines, Tagaytay City 85 THE PHILJA CORPS OF PROFESSORS AND THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE*
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
Madame Justice and Chancellor Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera; the distinguished Department Heads of PHILJA; Members of the Corps of Professors; my Friends:
On November 23, 1998, on the eve of the retirement of Chief Justice Andres R. Narvasa, we laid the cornerstone of the proposed building of the Academy at this precious Tagaytay site. This we did however vast the improvements may have been done by the Court on the convention center that came into its hands. The dream was greater than that – a building modern and big enough to house the vision of the Academy. Thus did we take care of the infrastructural body of the Academy. Today, we gather the substantive body of the Academy – the Corps of Professors for its first plenary meeting. The professors gather to attend to the soul, the anima, of the Academy – the course of study of those who will seek admission to and will become members of the Philippine Judiciary. Today, we lay the more enduring cornerstone – as it is expected to be a living foundation that, while deeply planted in the fundamentals, can grow in time with and on time for all changes and circumstances. I must then commend
* Keynote Address delivered at the Corps of Professors First Plenary Meeting, on February 4, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), Tagaytay City. 86 our tireless Chancellor for this historic activity, and thank her and all of you for the honor of having been asked to keynote the event.
And as I do as you please, let me repeat the pledge I made during the opening ceremonies of the Third Appellate Justices Conference in January last year. During my watch of the Supreme Court, the Academy, in this instance in the planning and more so in the execution of plans for its curriculum, shall receive boundless support and assistance as the Court’s implementing arm and the nation’s watchdog in the pursuit of excellence in the Judiciary. The pursuit of excellence is one of the core values I underscored in my policy statement embodied in the Davide Watch. I thus urge you to make that your theme and headline for the present and future planning activities – “In Pursuit of Excellence” in and for the Judiciary. I see that while yet unexpressed, the theme has in fact been in practice in the Academy. It has prepared well for the purposes of this plenary meeting.
On the programs that at the time of its establishment were inherited from the Office of the Court Administrator, the Academy had made refinements and adjustments as dictated by the experience it had in holding the programs in coordination with the Institute of Judicial Administration of the University of the Philippines. The record shows that the Academy has, so far from 1996, conducted thirteen (13) orientation seminars for newly appointed Judges and eight (8) Judicial Career Development Programs. It has developed and held 87 programs for Executive Judges for eight (8) times; for Appellate Judges for four (4) times; for Court Personnel for twenty-six (26) times; for TQM for trial Judges for eleven (11) times; trial court performance standards twice; special focus seminars for twenty- eight (28) times. That is an impressive record that started with learning, which led to discerning and then creating.
Surely, there is now a wealth of information and abundance of experience on which this assembly can work; from which it can glean and wean the wisdom that will guide the Academy in the fulfillment of its now legislated mandate, which is, “to provide and implement a curriculum for judicial education” of justices, judges, court personnel, lawyers and aspirants to judicial posts, “designed to upgrade their legal knowledge, moral fitness, probity, efficiency, and capability.” The Academy has, rightly indeed, constituted this mandate as its philosophy for being.
Worthy of note among your work papers is the draft pre-judicature curriculum. Needless to state, you are called to be very careful about its shape and substance. The contents, the subjects, the manner of instruction, the predictable tutorship results must each and in their entirety be worthy of the great and heavy legislative command that “only participants who have completed the programs prescribed by the Academy and have satisfactorily complied with all the requirements incident thereto may be appointed or promoted to any position or vacancy in the Judiciary.” The document that you will draft and the 88 implementation of its details will be the primal process in the system of appointment to the Bench. The Academy, with this document, will touch the constitutional recommendatory authority of the Judicial and Bar Council and, just as importantly, the presidential prerogative of appointment. The pre- judicature curriculum, a power paraphernalia, must be equal to the obvious responsibility the Academy is made to bear.
I am glad that the Academy has realized this as indicated by the stress in its philosophy on judicial attitudes. Values and value systems are integral parts of the projected pre-judicature curriculum as well as of the existing and yet to be refined curricula on orientation of newly appointed judges, on judicial career development program and seminar for executive judges. As you and I know, integrity is even a constitutional requirement for judgeship. Sadly, though, the breach of ethical standards continue in intolerable frequency. And sadder yet, the smear on the culprit sustains as badly as the institution. It may thus be a good idea to consider the incorporation into the design of the curriculum on values and attitudes the piety of a religious rite. After all, judgeship is often likened, not inaccurately I may say, to priesthood. I have called the Courts temples of justice. As I said in the Davide Watch, it is essential that the members of the Judiciary and the members of the legal profession, as officers of the court, be of utmost competence and unassailable integrity.
May I mention too that while the search for the best instructional structures should look at patterns of 89 other jurisdictions more experienced than us in judicial education, we must remain planted on Filipino culture, tradition, and legal and judicial history. The Filipino Judge should be the permanent focus of attention. The concept that we borrow, if we must, should be adaptable to and workable under local conditions. The readiness to reach out to distant sources must be matched by the will to harmonize the gathered ideas with the Filipino spirit and intellect. Practicality should be the guideline. This brings me to one other suggestion that you might consider.
In the planning sessions, in the researches that you will do in libraries as well as in the field, in the holding of programs, in the interaction with the student judges, there must be a constant search for and determination of the more common facts and occurrences that give rise to legal conflicts and correspondingly, of the substantive and procedural law that apply to the current and recurrent legal problems. These will most naturally occupy the judge and he must be assisted in developing expertise in their resolution. Such assistance is as significant as exposure to information on new, and as such less readily understandable, developments in law and legal science. As always, the delicate balance in curriculum load must be struck.
We are yet in the frontier of Philippine judicial education. The initial clearings have, however, been encouragingly successful. For that all must be thankful to our Chancellor Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera, Vice Chancellor Justice Antonio M. Martinez and his predecessors, and now departed 90 Justice Irene Cortes and Justice Nathaniel Grospe; the working staff of the Academy and, of course, the UP Institute of Judicial Administration. The trail is clear and well directed. On it now are men and women who are masters in law and legal education – each one of you, the well chosen members of the PHILJA Corps of Professors who are among the best from the Judiciary, the academe, and the legal practitioners. I know that for you, the theme, pursuit of excellence, is but a way of life. You will animate PHILJA and the Judiciary with that way of life. Yes, listen to Jesus Christ speaking through Matthew: Be the salt of the earth. Be the light of the world. Your light must shine before men – meaning, the Judges and court personnel who will be trained by PHILJA and the public at large who will be served by them – so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to the Heavenly Father. Remember, too, what Jesus said through Luke: The harvest is rich, but the workers are few.
Finally, today, PHILJA launches the PHILJA Judicial Journal. It is a testament to its commitment to advance excellence in the Judiciary. Its editorial focus makes it entirely different from all others. Chancellor Herrera states it explicitly in the Foreword: “to provide a forum for both fact and opinion related to the assiduous study of the law, the relentless pursuit of justice, the constant search for the attribute of excellence in Judges, and the enhancement of a culture of professionalism in the Bench.” I congratulate PHILJA for the publication of the Journal.
91 May the Teacher above guide and bless us all. Good day.
92 PURSUIT FOR JUDICIAL EXCELLENCE
Justice Angelina S. Gutierrez Supreme Court
Mme. Justice and Chancellor Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera; Members of the Faculty and Newly appointed and promoted judges:
May I thank most sincerely Justice Herrera for inviting me to deliver this Inspirational Message before you this morning.
I would like to congratulate you for your two impressive achievements: First, your appointments and promotions as trial judges, and second, your graduation today.
I wonder if, before you aspired to be members of the Bench, you considered very seriously what your lives would be the moment you don your judicial robes…
Trial judges stand at the frontline of the Judiciary. On their shoulders lie the burden of deciding cases involving basically the life, liberty and property of every litigant. Specifically, the power of a judge is to decide the fate of an individual and in a broader sense, that of a nation. This awesome power carries with it a great responsibility, the reason why
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the 14th Orientation Seminar for Newly Appointed Judges, on March 17, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 93 the position of a judge is only reserved to a chosen few known for their proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.
As members of the Bench, you must always strive to possess and hold dear these sterling qualities from your first day as trial judges and up to your last working day. Let me, therefore, expound on these attributes a little, first, by quoting former Chief Justice Andres R. Narvasa in his Reflections on Law and Justice which I find so relevant, thus:
“I think being a good judge requires first and foremost that one should be a good person. Our legal training, our judicial experiences, must rest on the foundation of a strong character, a blameless personal life and an abiding belief that to work for justice is among the noblest of vocations, demanding the best of what we can give it. What makes one a good person is our own individual responsibility, involving as it does a treasure chest of values, virtues, personal objectives, social priorities and oftentimes an institution of what is good or bad.”
Yes, a judge must be a good person. By being so, we can be sure that the Judiciary is manned by men and women with impeccable integrity.
A judge must consider his work as a vocation. ”He who renders justice lives in the service of the 94 Lord” is a biblical passage which renders judicial calling so honorable and holy. Indeed, administering justice is a saintly task. Like a monk, a judge must be independent and isolated from mundane affairs, devoting his full time to decision-making. He must decide regardless of who gets hurt. He must not be pressured by the media, politicians, the mob or influenced by personal relationships or “utang na loob.”
A judge must be competent. He must be intelligent and keep himself updated on law, jurisprudence, procedure, administrative policies, economics, modern technology and other important related subjects.
A judge must be industrious. He must burn the midnight lamp, so to speak, in order to lessen, if not unclog, his heavy load of cases. Indeed, he must be the first one to arrive in his court and the last to leave.
Let me, at this point, remind you that it is not enough that you possess the attributes of a good judge and put them into action. You must go beyond these basic requirements. You must pursue and attain judicial excellence. Allow me to explain.
Judges have always been victims of unjust criticisms. Media and unscrupulous organizations and individuals readily blame the entire Judiciary for the sin of one wicked judge.
95 To improve the image of the Judiciary and to reward those deserving judges, several concerned citizens, with Supreme Court Justice Jose Y. Feria (retired) at the helm, organized the Foundation For Judicial Excellence. Since 1991, the Foundation has been giving awards to Outstanding RTC Judges, MTC Judges, Public Prosecutors and Public Attorneys.
What are the criteria for the awards? They include, among others, unquestioned moral integrity of the judge, exceptional dedication to the task of dispensing justice, mastery of the art of conducting trial, ability to write quality decisions, swiftness in the disposition of cases, sound management of his court and cases, and contributions to law and jurisprudence. He must have personal, vigorous, sustained effort to be an exemplar of an ideal judge. These are the qualities the judge striving for judicial excellence must possess – qualities not too lofty or impossible to acquire or develop.
The award consists of honors received at the Supreme Court: a trophy, enhanced chances for promotion and P50,000.00.
The award for Judicial Excellence challenges every judge who desires to uplift the quality of justice in our country to be the best judge.
Why do I emphasize to you this Judicial Excellence Award? In doing so, I feel I am contributing something significant for the improvement of the image of the Judiciary of which I am a part. If only every judge should aim for Judicial 96 Excellence, even without the corresponding award, our Judiciary will regain its lost luster and bring it into an era of greatness.
Thus, I urge all of you – aspire for Judicial Excellence and pursue it ceaselessly. I am sure you can…the PHILJA has prepared you to reach that goal. It is up to you to do your part. Let it be your professional obsession.
When you attain Judicial Excellence, your joy is one of the greatest which can be felt by a human soul, and the thought that you have done your best for the Judiciary renders that joy more intense, lasting and meaningful.
And now to all of you who have been chosen as dispensers of justice and future candidates for the Judicial Excellence Award, I say, may the Lord take care of you and bless you in all your endeavors.
Good Day. 97 THE ROLE OF COURT STENOGRAPHERS IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
Executive Judge Galicano Arriesgado; Judge Sison of Dagupan; PHILJA Executive Secretary Priscila S. Agana; Professor Monserrat Babaran; Officers of the COSTRAPHIL; and my Fellow Public Servants:
I come at a time when you are about to conclude your three-day conference-seminar with the theme: “Uniting to Face the Challenges of the New Millennium.”
In the last two days, you heard inspirational messages and lectures on conduct, ethics, duties and responsibilities of court stenographers in the speedy disposition of justice; effective communication for court stenographers; and benefits, privileges and opportunities of court stenographers. And this morning, you had a lecture on team-building.
You may not have noticed the arrangement or sequence of the lecture topics. I have and I think it was carefully planned to meet the primary demand of your theme, which requires nothing less than a positive transformation or change in each one of you.
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the Second Convention and Seminar for Court Stenographers, on April 29, 2000, at the Grand Majestic Convention Center, Cebu City. 98 I deliberately used the word positive to qualify transformation or change, for there can be – and there are even more – negative transformations or changes. A positive transformation means growth, and a negative transformation means decay. In the public service, there is no place for decay. The nature of public office, which is that of being a public trust, abhors any kind of negative transformation in the holder of the trust. Its demands, which no less than the Constitution prescribes – namely, that all government officials and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives – require men and women who will never abandon the path and by-ways of positive transformation.
When you started your conference-seminar with conduct, ethics, and duties and responsibilities, you were immersed in principles that promote your attitudes and perceptions, enhance your values, and strengthen your commitment to public service. When you wrapped it up with a lecture on team-building, you were drilled in the pre-requisite of achieving unity. Thus, for a total of less than 24 hours, you were internally reconstructed and oriented to give life to the word UNITING in the conference-seminar’s theme.
That unity is essential in meeting or facing the challenges in the New Millennium. Needless to say, unity in this regard requires a full grasp and appreciation of such challenges. The lecture on duties 99 and responsibilities of court stenographers in the speedy disposition of cases partly provides you with a critical area of these challenges. I may give you more.
If you recall, immediately after my appointment as the 21st Chief Justice of the Philippines, I announced my goals, vision, and mission for the Judiciary and the legal profession in a paper entitled, THE DAVIDE WATCH: Leading the Philippine Judiciary and the Legal Profession Towards the Third Millennium. I stated therein as a policy that the system of administration of justice must be geared to achieve the goal of delivering fair, impartial, and swift justice. Hence, the core values of the rule of law, equal justice, judicial independence, and the pursuit of excellence should be preserved and at all times maintained. My vision is a Judiciary that is independent, effective and efficient, and worthy of public trust and confidence; and a legal profession that provides quality, ethical, accessible, and cost- effective legal service to our people, and is willing and able to answer the call to public service.
I may stress once more that the pursuit and accomplishment of these core values and vision for the Judiciary is the solemn duty of all those involved in the sacramental task of administering justice. This means the lowliest employee of the Judiciary to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Undoubtedly, since stenographers take stenographic notes of the proceedings in every case, including, more importantly, the testimonies of witnesses, as well as 100 take notes of the judges’ dictations of orders and decisions, and then transcribe them, one could only imagine the gravity of (1) the duties and responsibilities of stenographers, and (2) the demand on their honesty, integrity, and dedication to duty.
It is no exaggeration to state that a stenographer can change the testimony of a witness either by adding to it or eliminating portions therefrom, like, for instance, the word ‘not.’ In short, stenographers can be instruments of justice or injustice. They can also be the cause of delays in the dispensation of justice, especially in the appellate level in criminal cases. Time and again, dispositions of cases involving heinous crimes, on automatic review before the Supreme Court, are delayed because of the failure of stenographers to submit on time the transcript of stenographic notes of testimonies of witnesses. And from the point of view of litigants, a stenographer’s dishonesty may result in gross injustice not only on the merits of the case, but even in expenses. For instance, when the records of a case are elevated on appeal, one can immediately notice that some transcripts of stenographic notes are typed within extra-wide margins in more than double spaces. In other words, what may fit into, say, ten pages, end up in a twenty-page TSN. The poor litigant interested in buying the TSN for a better presentation of his case before the appellate court has to pay for those unnecessary additional pages.
The Supreme Court will not tolerate or condone such acts of malfeasance or misfeasance. As I 101 said in the DAVIDE WATCH, dishonesty, immorality, incompetence, inefficiency and any form of unbecoming conduct are impermissible and will not be tolerated in the Judiciary and in the legal profession.
What I said during the in-house seminar- workshop for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Sandiganbayan attorneys equally applies to the court stenographers: You are duty-bound to maintain and promote the integrity of our courts to ensure public trust and confidence in institutional justice. Your dedication could only be measured by your loyalty, which should be absolute and steadfast, and the quality of your work, which should be nothing less than exceptional. Everything you do must be geared toward enhancing public service. And because the public service is our master, we are all accountable for our actions. Let me remind you that the Judiciary’s image is one of the frailest entities in modern times. Treat it with care and the people will believe in it and even cherish it. Treat it shabbily and the people will distrust it and everything it stands for. Being a part of the institution, you should not do anything to destroy it. I know you will not. Otherwise, there is no reason for you to be here nor to stay longer in the Judiciary.
On the contrary, you aspire for nothing else than the greatness of the institution of which you are an integral part. By uniting to face the challenges of the New Millennium, you have willed your time, toil, energy, resources, sacrifices, and yes, your future, for 102 the Judiciary. For that I commend you and may your tribe increase.
God loves us all dearly.
103 ON RETROSEPECTION, INTROSPECTION, AND THE TURNING OF A CENTURY
Chairman Alfredo L. Benipayo** Commission on Elections
In barely two days, we will be marking the 99th anniversary of the Supreme Court. That occasion also kicks off the yearlong Centennial celebrations that will culminate in 2001, with the 100th foundation day of the Republic’s highest Tribunal.
Of this momentous occasion the former Chief Justice Narvasa once said that the anniversary commemorations of the Supreme Court have often been perceived only in the context of its fifteen justices, losing sight of the countless personnel who make the Court the functioning institution that it is.
Might I add, however, that this anniversary should go beyond just celebrating the Court, its Justices, and its personnel. It is – more significantly to my mind – a clarion call for a bit of retrospection and introspection.
The achievement of a milestone has always been a reason to look back at the road that was
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the Convention and Seminar of the RTC Clerks of Court Association of the Philippines, on June 10, 2000, at the Development Academy of the Philippines, Tagaytay City.
** Former Court Administrator, Supreme Court of the Philippines. 104 traveled. Often, with hindsight, we learn great lessons from the various bumps and cracks and potholes that we successfully overcame. If, on the other hand, we refuse to look back, we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to be enriched by our experiences, to be improved by our flaws. In effect, we would be rendering all that toil and trouble meaningless.
The same is true with Clerks of Court. I would, in fact, go as far as saying that retrospection should be mandatory in your case.
The position you occupy is no trifling post. You know, as well as I, that the Clerk of Court is a vital cog in the great machinery of the Judiciary. The Clerk is likewise a potential engine for the development and improvement of his court. I say potential because the knife can cut both ways. A dynamic Clerk of Court – and I see many exemplars in this room – can, with the judicious exercise of initiative, propel his court to greater and greater heights of effectivity and efficiency. On the other hand, an indolent Clerk – and I am sure there are very few of those – can also, single-handedly, drag his court down into the depths of stagnation and inefficiency.
At this point, allow me to share with you my ideas of “dynamism” in the service. A dynamic officer of the Judiciary not only does his job well, but also keeps an eye out for ways to improve his performance. A dynamic officer does not wait for new methods and techniques to gain official recognition, 105 he suggests their adoption. Most importantly, he objectively evaluates his past performance in order to find the flaws and imperfections in his procedures, so that he might correct and improve them.
Therefore, the question we must ask ourselves, ladies and gentlemen, is this: Are WE dynamic?
And this is where our celebration of the Supreme Court’s milestone sounds its second summons: introspection.
Reform, in any setting, always begins with those who feel the need to make a difference. And the man in the mirror, it has always been said, must be the first one to make a change.
Knowing, as you do, the vital nature of your position in the administration of justice, now is the time to look into the mirror and decide if the person who looks back is living up to all your expectations. This convention and seminar, while it attends to the more practical aspects of your occupation, likewise provides you the opportunity to gaze into that mirror – to re-evaluate, not just your job, not merely your performance, but also your attitude towards it. Is your Office just a means of making a living, or is it a commitment? Is it a chore that must simply be endured, or a craft to be lovingly honed and practiced and perfected?
It would, no doubt, be the easiest thing to come up with all the right answers and parrot the proper motivations. It is quite another to truly mean them 106 and to truly live them. Thus, these are questions that you must ask first, and answer, deep within yourselves. And I can think of no better time than now to do it.
In less than two days’ time, the Supreme Court will begin the countdown to its centenary. I am confident that you, as integral elements of the Judiciary, will share with the Court the process of retrospection and introspection out of which it will eventually emerge – just as you will – revitalized and ready to face the next hundred years. 107 THE GUARDIANS OF JUSTICE
Justice Conchita Carpio Morales Court of Appeals
Concurrently with the various complexities of human existence, the art and science of governance poses as one of the great and continuing challenges for modern society to obtain a measure of mastery for the attainment of the objectives of government.
While most peoples of the world have adopted governments of varying forms or types, there is much to be desired in the manner by which these institutions operate to satisfy needs or to protect interests or to resolve conflicts.
Crime, lawlessness, poverty, urban decay, environmental degradation, rapid population growth and dwindling resources are problems which continue to defy real and permanent solutions despite the seemingly endless efforts by legal or political systems to improve the human condition. Governments rise and fall on account of their failure to perform constituent and ministrant functions which are essential to the enjoyment by their people of the blessings of living in a civilized society.
In the case of our country, the socio-economic illnesses that perennially afflict it serve as an indicator
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the 15th Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges, on June 30, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 108 of the failure of government action, suggesting that there is much to be done in the managing of the affairs and concerns of the country.
We have incessantly struggled to seek a kind of national leadership that will finally make a difference in the life of the Filipino. We have struggled to put up a body of public functionaries whose competence and moral fitness will ensure the faithful execution of the vital tasks of governance.
While we, in the Judiciary and in the exercise of our authority, are supreme in our own sphere, we, too, are beset by our own failings and infirmities.
We must thus continue to strive to enhance, if not perfect, our craft of interpreting and applying the law, of administering justice, so that we can do our share in the better governance of the Filipino nation.
A true administration of justice can only result from honorable, free and competent courts working to accomplish what the law mandates them to do.
My fellow judges, you have just joined the Judiciary. I summon you to undertake stringent preservation of your integrity, independence and competence. Never must a shred of doubt or suspicion be allowed to cast upon your conduct in the course of dispensing justice or incident thereto. Nor must even the slightest deviation from the observance of each and every known precept of judicial ethics be taken.
109 Just as I summon you to dedicate your supreme effort towards obtaining perfect truth and rendering exact justice, if possible. Because though the law may be satisfied with approximate justice where exact justice is unattainable, courts should still recognize no rules which stop at the first, even when the second is in reach (Schroeder v. C., R.I. & P.R., 47 Iowa 375, 379, 1877).
And I exhort you to become that person whom World War I U.S. Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker, called the judge, described as follows:
“A man of learning who spends tirelessly the weary hours after midnight acquainting himself with the great body of traditions and the learning of the law.
A man who bears himself in his community with friends but without familiars, almost lonely, devoting himself exclusively to the most exacting mistress that man ever had, the law as a profession in its highest reaches where he not only interprets the law but applies it, fearing neither friend nor foe, fearing only one thing in the world – that in a moment of abstraction, or due to human weakness, he may in fact commit some error and fail to do justice. That is the judge.”
110 Indeed, the inviolate character of the obligations and task which surround each and everyone of us judges compels us to live an extraordinary life, exert extraordinary effort, and act in an extraordinary way to guarantee that the administration of justice is pure and unsullied. In return to whatever had been and will be taken away from us by virtue of our having exercised the functions of our office in the greater interest of justice and for the promotion of the general welfare, we can bask under the reasonable promise or thought of a brighter and better future for this country and for our children and our children’s children.
On a more personal level, as guardians and purveyors of justice, we are assured of a sense of fulfillment that will truly complete us as a person and make us grasp the essence of our humanity. For as Daniel Webster declared in his Funeral Oration on Mr. Justice Story (September 12, 1845):
“Justice, Sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Wherever her temple stands, and so long as it is duly honored, there is a foundation for social security, general happiness and the improvement and progress of our race. And whoever labors on this edifice with usefulness and distinction, whoever clears its foundations, strengthens its pillars, adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august dome still 111 higher in the skies, connects himself, in name and fame and character, with that which is and must be as durable as the frame of human society.”
Thank you and Good day to everyone.
112 A BETTER JUDICIARY THROUGH BETTER JUDGES
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
Madame Justice and Chancellor Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera; Pre-Judicature Chairman, Justice Ricardo C. Puno, Sr.; Judge Sixto Marella; Members of the first batch of Pre-judicature trainees; Friends and Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen:
You have just completed ten long grueling days of intensively serious familiarization with judgeship. Mind you those days were not enough. Despite the topics you have persevered through these past two weeks, you have had only a glimpse into the life expected of a judge. Those of you here who are already judges will attest to the correctness of this assertion. The heavy volume of reading materials, the long hours of non-stop work, the late nights spent toiling in pursuit of justice and the truth, are all part and parcel of the usual labor of a judge.
The fact that you have resolved to proceed with the Pre-Judicature Program affirms your love for justice and commitment to serve God, your country and your fellowmen as judges. Love and commitment are indispensable virtues for those who seek to join the Bench. I have often talked about the sanctity of the task of administering justice and, therefore, of the
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the Pre-Judicature Program: Phase I (As Prescribed by Section 10, R.A. No. 8557), on June 30, 2000, at the Court of Appeals Auditorium, Centennial Building, Court of Appeals, Manila. 113 sacramental nature of judgeship. Indeed, in the way they devote their lives to their calling, burning the midnight oil in examining a case, and religiously keeping themselves up to speed on the latest developments in law, judges are like priests; and in the manner in which they conduct themselves in public, shunning social gatherings that tend to put their integrity into question, and living the life of a virtual recluse, judges are like monks.
In this first phase of the Pre-Judicature Program, you have been acquainted with the non- legal aspects of judgeship. I refer to those fundamentals that would, among many other things, make you fully understand the role of the Judiciary in a constitutional democracy and the indispensable qualities of justice and of those administering it, and of the values the latter must at all times uphold and preserve. For those as yet aspiring to join the Bench, the first phase of the program is designed to achieve initial internal transformation to prepare your minds, hearts and souls for judgeship.
I understand that in Phase II of the Program you will be reviewing the laws and jurisprudence most often encountered by judges. With your successful completion of these two phases, you will be more able to respond to the demands of judgeship.
The Pre-Judicature program is mandated by Republic Act No. 8557, the Charter of the Philippine Judicial Academy. It specifically provides that as soon as PHILJA shall have fully organized with the composition of its Corps of Professorial Lecturers and 114 other personnel, only those who have satisfactorily completed the Academy’s courses and have satisfactorily complied with all the requirements incident thereto may be appointed or promoted to any position or vacancy in the Judiciary. The purpose of the course is to ensure a quality Bench by having better judges.
We in the Judiciary are building better judges. This is not to say that the present crop is bad – definitely not! For there are many excellent judges who have been examples to their comrades in robes. But we need more of them. As we are building a better Judiciary, the men and women who occupy judicial posts must themselves be better prepared intellectually, professionally, morally and spiritually to comply with the delicate requirements of their duties.
Under my watch, the Judiciary shall be nothing less than an entity that is independent, effective, efficient, and worthy of public trust and confidence. To accomplish this objective we will need, among other important requisites, members of the Bench who will unerringly adhere to the constitutional precept that public office is a public trust. I assure you that dishonesty, immorality, incompetence, inefficiency and any form of unbecoming conduct shall not be tolerated, thus those who fail to meet the standards set for members of the Bench shall be relentlessly weeded out. The process of weeding out begins here with the Pre-Judicature Program. This is how seriously the Judiciary aims for its objectives, for this is how immensely the public relies on the courts 115 as the last bulwark of democracy, and the judges as the vigilant sentinels of justice.
The role of the judge in society cannot be overemphasized. More than merely resolving disputes filed before them, judges stand at the frontline of the Judiciary; and to most of our countrymen, judges are the Judiciary, the personification of justice. Every impeccable decision by a judge is justice in its purest form. Every guilty person convicted is the law upheld. Every innocent man set free is truth defended.
In each of these instances the judge acts as a stabilizing force in a time marked by change and, sometimes, uncertainty. The judge is a sentinel guarding against the evils of society.
But, beware, for when a judge strays from the righteous path, the impact to society is equally far- reaching. Every transgression by a judge reflects negatively on the entire Judiciary and diminishes the public’s respect for an institution which relies on credibility for its survival. As public confidence in the Judiciary erodes, the strands that bind society together also wear away. Respect for the rule of law vanishes, the falcon cannot hear the falconer, and anarchy reigns.
Such is the power of a judge: the power to decide the fate of a nation. That power bears with it a great responsibility, which is why the honor to serve the country as a judge is reserved only to those of 116 proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.
This is the burden, you have assured yourself and everyone in this room, that you are willing to shoulder. And by taking on the Pre-Judicature Program, you have clearly demonstrated that you are willing and able to answer the call to public service, and for that you are a credit to the entire Bar.
I, therefore, congratulate you, members of the first batch of Pre-Judicature trainees. I congratulate you warmly and dearly. But I will hold back my warmest and dearest congratulations until that time when I welcome you to the Bench either as new judges or promoted ones. I trust that with your successful completion of the Pre-Judicature Program, I will not hold back my felicitations for too long.
Finally, for the successful conduct of this Pre- Judicature program, I commend and congratulate our tireless Chancellor, Mme. Justice Herrera; Vice- Chancellor Martinez; our Pre-Judicature Program Chairman, Justice Puno; the Professorial Lecturers; and the other officials and staff of the PHILJA.
God bless us all.
117 JUSTICE AND COUNTRY BEFORE, NOW AND ALWAYS
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
President Pine, Executive Vice-President Del Castillo, other officers and directors of the Philippine Judges Association; Judges of the Regional Trial Courts; Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is my second appearance before the Philippine Judges Association in an annual convention- seminar. In both, I was asked to deliver the Keynote Address. This time, unlike in the first, I am a victim of injustice. President Pine never told me what the convention-seminar’s theme would be despite several written and verbal motions requesting information thereon. The last paragraph of my letter of 18 July, accepting his invitation of 14 July, already prayed that I be informed of the theme to enable me to intelligently prepare my Keynote Address. And every time we met thereafter until Thursday of last week, I reiterated my request. Again, he did not even give me a hint of what the theme would be. It was only in the afternoon of last Monday when I received a copy of the souvenir program. To my surprise, it does not carry the theme of the convention. Howsoever viewed, President Pine was a bit unjust to me. Put a little differently, he committed grave abuse of discretion by making me wait nervously for some time, only to learn that there was nothing to wait for. Even if the souvenir program announced a theme, the information would have come late. Thus
* Keynote Address delivered at the Convention and Seminar of the Philippine Judges Association (PJA), on August 10, 2000, at the Waterfront Hotel, Cebu City. 118 denied of notice and due process, I had reason enough to change my mind, i.e., not to attend the year 2000 PJA National Convention-Seminar.
I only hope that neither President Pine nor you would commit another injustice by remaining silent on my pleas for compliance with the various issuances of the Supreme Court and of the Chief Justice to promote the independence, effectiveness and efficiency of the Judiciary and to enhance the public’s trust and confidence in it.
Yet, further reflecting on the matter, I thought that in acting the way he did, President Pine wanted to give me full freedom to speak on anything under the troubled sun. For, in the first place, this is what I can gather from the cryptic note at the left hand corner of the bottom of the cover of the souvenir program which reads, “By Authority of the Supreme Court.” By that authority, everything goes. In the second place, that freedom could be my prize for the issuance of a memorandum order granting the PJA financial assistance for the conduct of this convention-seminar.
As part of that freedom, let me make you an extension of my audience in two major conferences I attended where I shared my views on an issue of paramount importance insofar as administration of justice is concerned. I refer to the Fifth Asian Ombudsman Conference held in Manila on 17 to 19 July. The conference theme was “New Millennium, New Frontier, New Challenges,” and I spoke on Enhancing Justice Administration to Combat Graft and Corruption. The second was at the opening day, yesterday, of the three-day Inter-Agency Regional Dialogue-Workshop on the Guidelines of Cooperation 119 being held at Montebello Hotel. This is sponsored by the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council composed of the Department of Justice, Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, Ombudsman, National Bureau of Investigation, and the Presidential Commission Against Graft and Corruption.
In both I emphasized the role of the Judiciary in combating graft and corruption and stressed that in my vision-mission statement entitled, “THE DAVIDE WATCH: Leading the Philippine Judiciary and the Legal Profession Towards the Third Millennium,” the issue of graft and corruption is vigorously addressed. Graft and corruption will not be tolerated. I stressed the proposition that corruption has been a concern for governments, inter-governmental organizations, and the governed, for corruption drains the resources of nations, diverts those resources from their intended beneficiaries, and ultimately leads countries to social and economic decline and stagnation. Above all, it diminishes the people’s trust and confidence in their Governments and leaders, which would inevitably result in political instability. Nations and governments have fallen because of graft and corruption. Corruption and perceptions of corruption in the Judiciary diminish the people’s faith in it. The dishonest and corrupt, as well as the immoral, incompetent and inefficient must, therefore, be weeded out from the Judiciary or punished with appropriate administrative sanctions.
Our fight in this regard has been relentless. The disposition of administrative cases is faster than before, just as I pledged early in my term, so that the names of the innocent would be cleared and the guilty justly punished. The cleansing process must go on. Not only that. A program to broaden the scope of the process has 120 just been launched. I refer to the Pre-judicature Program of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), which has recently completed its first program consisting of two-week phases. As I mentioned at the closing ceremonies of the two phases, the first was designed to achieve initial internal transformation to prepare one’s mind, heart and soul for judgeship, while the second was for the review of laws and jurisprudence most often encountered by judges.
The Pre-judicature Program is mandated by the charter of the PHILJA. Henceforth, at a specified time, no one may be considered by the Judicial and Bar Council for appointment or promotion as Judge unless he has completed the Pre-judicature Program.
Then, the continuing judicial education program by the PHILJA would be pursued more vigorously. For CY 2000, by virtue of my authority to use savings in our appropriations for purposes allowed by the General Appropriations Act and in line with the fiscal autonomy of the Judiciary, I set aside the sum of P15 Million for PHILJA trainings, seminars and conferences. Also, both the unexpended balance of the released amount and the unreleased portion of the Judiciary’s share in the sale of the Fort Bonifacio property under the charter of the Bases Conversion Development Authority in the approximate amount of P107 Million would be earmarked for the construction of the PHILJA complex, even as we seek a grant from a foreign donor to finance its completion.
Before the year’s end, we will distribute to you and all other judges the Benchbook for Judges whose publication was funded by the Australian AID through the Philippine-Australian Governance Facility. This 121 Benchbook would greatly assist judges in rendering swift but quality decisions. It would contain chapters on basic subjects frequently confronted by judges, such as civil law, criminal law, civil law and criminal procedures, and judicial ethics, with the latest jurisprudence. It is a virtual library in one volume that would be complemented by a CD-ROM version and constantly and regularly updated on hard copy as well as on its web-based version.
Before the end of the year, the 1,500 computers I directed as early as February to be purchased may be distributed. There has been a delay in the acquisition because of the radical change in the purpose from that of acquiring computers for the simple work of word processing to having computers with built-in programs for their maximum use, such as for computer-assisted legal research.
Last 9 June, we also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Justice on the construction and maintenance of halls of justice to remove the stumbling blocks in the operation of the halls of justice and hasten the construction of new ones with the Supreme Court, through its Committee on Halls of Justice, having an active role in the preparation of the plans and designs of the buildings to make them more responsive to the needs of the Judiciary.
We shall neither stop nor slow down in our efforts to provide our judges with all the essential tools for meeting our goal of delivering fair, impartial and swift justice, as envisioned in my vision-mission statement, the Davide Watch. Complementing these tools is our equally vigorous pursuit to promote and strengthen the various alternative modes of dispute 122 resolution. We have joined forces with some agencies, both governmental and non-governmental, to strengthen the barangay justice system to achieve two main objectives: reduce the number of cases that are likely to reach the courts, and promote peace, understanding and harmony among the people in the basic unit of our society.
I had also encouraged you in my Administrative Circular No. 3-99 to use your power to settle controversies by amicable settlement or compromise at pre-trial stage. Then, through the efforts of the PHILJA, we now have pilot courts for mediation and conciliation in Valenzuela City and Mandaluyong City. We have plans to add more mediation-conciliation courts. And only last 28 July, some Executive Judges of the NCJR attended a dialogue with the Judiciary requested by the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc., which is headed by former Ambassador Sedfrey Ordoñez. The main thrust of the dialogue was on arbitration.
Undoubtedly, alternative modes of dispute resolution will radically reduce the number of cases filed in court, thereby preventing the clogging of court dockets.
Unfortunately, however, Congress recently passed the new Securities Act which transfers to the regular courts jurisdiction over cases enumerated in Section 5 of P.D. No. 902-A. I refer to R.A. No. 8799, the Securities Regulation Code. Last Monday, with Justice Reynato Puno, Chairman of the Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court, and Justice Jose Vitug, Chairman of the Committee on Legal Education, I met SEC Chairperson Lilia Bautista and two other SEC Commissioners to discuss the mechanics of the transfer 123 of some 1,000 SEC cases affected by the law to the regular courts. The easier way to solve the problem spawned by the new law would be to designate some branches of the RTC as special commercial courts, and for judges thereof to undergo a crash course on relevant subjects and rules of procedure on commercial laws and practices.
Then, too, we are confronted with the recently approved E-Commerce Act. New rules of procedure would have to be adopted. I already referred the E- Commerce Act to the Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court for study with the view of re-examining our rules on evidence. The Committee is also now in the final stages of drafting the Rules of the Family Courts. In our budget proposal for CY 2001 we recommended an appropriation for the formal organization of the Family Courts, which the DBM originally rejected. Fortunately, through our request during our one-on-one meeting with the Budget Secretary, we were able to get funding for the formal organization of one Family Court for each Judicial Region and another for each urbanized city.
For your information, too, the Committee’s draft of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure may soon be approved by the Court en banc after our several deliberations thereon.
Indeed, the New Millennium opened with more reforms for the Judiciary. You, the trial judges, are in the frontline for such reforms. From here on until 11 June 2001, the Supreme Court will need more of your support and cooperation. On that day, the Supreme Court will celebrate its centenary. The President has issued Proclamation No. 322, dated 6 June 2000, 124 declaring the period from 11 June 2000 to 11 June 2001 as the Centenary of the Supreme Court. I have issued Administrative Order No. 78-2000 enjoining the support of the trial courts for this historic affair. Last 9 June 2000, the Supreme Court launched the various programs/activities for the Centennial Celebrations. President Pine is a member of the Executive Committee for the celebration, which is chaired by Associate Justice Panganiban. One of the activities of the celebration would be special centennial awards for judicial excellence. We will choose outstanding judges of the Courts of the First and Second Levels on both regional and national categories.
The Supreme Court’s centennial may very well be the centennial of the Philippine Judiciary, with a common theme: Katarungan at Bayan Magpakailanman.
The judges of the Philippine Judiciary today are the luckiest and the most blessed, for they are not only “New Millennium” judges, but they are also the “Centennial” judges. But the blessings impose and carry tremendous responsibilities and challenges. Failure in acquitting themselves of the responsibility and meeting the challenges with courage and wisdom would mean a downfall that the next millennium and the second centennial would never forget. I am sure you cannot allow that kind of memorial.
From all that I have said so far, it is obvious that the topic of my very short keynote address is:
“Justice and country before, now and always.” “Justicia et patria heri, hodie, semper.” “Katarungan at bayan magpakailanman.”
125 May you have a very fruitful convention- seminar. God bless us all. 126 STRIVE TO BE THE BEST
Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr. Supreme Court
Madame Justice Ameurfina Melencio Herrera, Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy; Fellow Judges; Friends; Ladies and Gentlemen.
At the outset, let me congratulate you, the participants in this Judicial Career Enhancement Program for RTC Judges. Upon the gracious invitation of Justice Herrera, I am happy to be here this morning to share some thoughts with you, happy because I do have a feeling of kinship with RTC Judges like you, considering that I also came from the ranks of RTC judges.
Fellow judges, you will probably agree with me if I tell you that your main task and purpose, as judges, is to administer Impartial Justice. Considering our deeply-rooted cultural values of “pakikisama” and “utang na loob,” it takes not only brains but also guts to render consistently Impartial Justice and to be constantly true to your oath of office as judges. Hence, do not hesitate to pray daily and seek divine assistance in your noble and sometimes thankless task. If you do so, the good Lord will enlighten and inspire you and He will lighten your
* Inspirational Message delivered during the Closing Ceremonies of the Judicial Career Enhancement Program for Regional Trial Court Judges (Basic Course), on August 31, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 127 burden as Judges. For did not our Lord promise: “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find?” All it takes is to strive for a stronger faith in the Lord. Realize that Faith is over and above the realm of human reason. Trust in the Lord and remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. As the old folks used to say: “Nasa tao ang gawa, nasa Diyos ang awa. Pagsikat ng araw, laganap ang biyaya ng diyos.” In the Supreme Court, whether sitting en banc or by divisions, the Justices, as a matter of practice, will first stand up and say a short prayer before they tackle the agenda for the day. The same is true in the Cabinet, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Strive not only to be good judges, but to be the best judges in the country.
Rufus Choate, describing the best judge to the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts said:
“…In the first place, he should be profoundly learned in all the learning of the law, and he must know how to use that learning. x x x In the next place, he must be a man, not merely honest and well intentioned – but a man who will not respect persons in judgment. x x x He shall know nothing about the case. He shall do everything for justice; nothing for himself. x x x If on one side is the executive and the legislature and the people – source of his honors, the giver of his daily bread – and on the 128 other, an individual, nameless and odious, his eyes are to see neither great nor small; attending only to the trepidation of the balance.
History has shown that good and impartial magistrates lend stability to their people. As judges, you should not only be impartial and honest, but also appear impartial and honest if you are to gain and maintain the respect and trust of our people. A good judge will rather be right than popular - and that is not an easy thing to do. Perhaps, you might as well adopt as a credo Lord Coke’s famous words, “I will do what becomes me as a judge.” Or St. Thomas More’s credo: “I am the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” It has been said that the best assurance of a truly independent Judiciary is the conscience of upright and God-fearing judges.
For practical purposes, I would suggest that you keep and place on your work table a copy of the Bible (or the Koran if you are a Muslim) as well as a copy of the Code of Judicial Ethics. Read briefly portions of the Bible every now and then, daily if possible; it is also a book of prayer and inspiration at the same time. Read closely and follow the Code of Judicial Ethics so that you will not get into trouble, whether inside or outside your courtrooms.
Considering the close psychosomatic relation between the human mind and the human body, it is important to be always physically healthy to stay mentally healthy. “Mens sana in corpore sano,” as the Latin adage goes. Undertake some physical 129 exercise daily like brisk walking, and have a regular annual physical check-up, keeping in mind the poetic and wise words of Henry Longfellow: “Though our hearts be stout and brave, they are like muffled drums beating funeral marches to the grave!”
Corollary to all these, let us reflect, every now and then, how to stay young in heart and spirit. Judges feeling young? Why not? A positive, healthy attitude in life goes a long, long way. Like General Douglas McArthur, let us believe these lines, and I quote:
“Youth is not a time of life – it is a state of mind; it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old only by deserting their ideals; years wrinkle the skins but to give up enthusiasm wrinkle the soul. Worry, doubt, self- distrust, fear and despair – these are the long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.
Whether seventy or seventeen, there is in every being’s heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and starlike things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the 130 unfailing childlike appetite for what’s next, and the joy and game of life.
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.
For as long as your heart receives messages of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the Infinite, so long you are young.
When the wires are all down and all the central place of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then you have grown old indeed, and may God have mercy on your soul!”
If I may add: Develop a good sense of humor because laughter is still the best medicine. And remember what the French philosopher, Leon Bloy, once said: “Joy is an infallible sign of the presence of God.” Certainly, inner joy and a good conscience will lighten your burden, as hardworking and underpaid judges.
A good judge, in my opinion, has three traits, all starting with the letter “m” in Pilipino. These are:
(a) “Matalino” – This means mental competence and implies the good habit of reading not only 131 law books, legal commentaries and jurisprudence, but also the classics. You must also be keen observers of the advances in science and technology. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: “The life of the law has not been logic, it has been experience.” Nowadays, human experience and knowledge have been expanded by science, and their data have been capsulized and stored through computer technology, capable of being transmitted in a matter of seconds to any part of the civilized world via the Internet. (b) “Masipag” – Industriousness. This is important because you must realize that “Justice delayed is justice denied.” (c) “Matapat” – Be constantly true to your oath of office as judges. This implies loyalty, patriotism, honesty and integrity.
The traits “matalino” and “masipag” may dim or diminish for some reason or another, but never “matapat.”
Finally, I submit that a good judge should also be a caring human being especially towards his family. For it has been said that no amount of success can make up for failure in the home.
Because as good judges you should also be role models in your respective communities. Let me end this talk with the poem entitled “ANYWAY” which is displayed on the wall of the Children’s Home of Mother Teresa’s missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. It is a good philosophy of life and code of action. I 132 recommend it to you. The poem goes something like this:
“People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have got, and you’ll get kicked on the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got…Anyway.”
And so, despite difficulties, financial or otherwise, let us give our people, the Bench and the Bar, the best we’ve got... anyway.
Congratulations again, and may the Good Lord keep and bless you. Salamat po. 133 IN PURSUITOF EXCELLENCE
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
Madame Justice Ameurfina Melencio Herrera; Justice Aquino; DCA’s Elepaño and Ponferrada; ACA Perez; Honorable Judges, Clerks of Court, Legal Researchers, and Sheriffs of the Second Judicial Region; Judges Reuben de la Cruz, Lock, and Bello, whom I have requested to accompany me, together with retired Judge Ramiscal; My fellow workers in the Judiciary; Friends:
Good afternoon.
I have been ordered by Mme. Justice Ameurfina M. Herrera to deliver an Inspirational Message and to distribute the certificates of completion to the participants of this First Regional Seminar for Judges, Clerks of Court, Branch Clerks of Court, Legal Researchers, and Sheriffs of the Regional Trial Courts and the Courts of the First Level of the Second Judicial Region. I cannot refuse our Chancellor. She has been my inspiration in hard work, devotion to duty, loyalty to service, and in the pursuit of excellence. I have to make my longest land travel ever. I was not bored because Mrs. Davide was with me and my driver was no less than a judge from
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the First Regional Seminar for Judges, Clerks of Court, Branch Clerks of Court, Legal Researchers, and Sheriffs of the Regional Trial Courts and First-Level Courts of Region II, on September 22, 2000, at the Ivory Lodge, Tuguegarao City. 134 Cagayan, Judge Ruben de la Cruz of RTC, Marikina City. We left Quezon City at 10:00 p.m. last night.
I started to think during the long hours of wakefulness and even the few minutes of snoreless sleep along the way that the personal sacrifice of coming here would be enough inspiration for you.
Time and again the Judiciary has come under fire sometimes for unfounded conclusions, but often for valid reasons. We simply cannot disregard nor ignore any of these concerns. Valid or not, when the public has cause to doubt the independence, effectiveness, efficiency and credibility of the Judiciary; the integrity, honesty, competence and probity of the Judges; and the faithful adherence by all court personnel to the public trust character of public office, our strength as an institution crumbles, and the people lose faith in the rule of law, in government, in democracy. Without hope some may take matters into their own hands; others would simply become indifferent or apathetic.
The Judiciary’s response to the people’s concerns has been swift and decisive, with strategies that address several concerns simultaneously, guided by the basic principles which I outlined in the vision- mission statement for the Judiciary which I entitled, The Davide Watch. I would like to believe that by now you are familiar with that document. If not, then something must be wrong somewhere; something must have gone awry. I may just as well repeat the heart of the vision-mission statement: 135 “A Judiciary that is independent, effective and efficient, and worthy of public trust and confidence; a Judiciary where the core values of the rule of law, equal justice, judicial independence and the pursuit of excellence should be preserved and at all times be predominant.”
To ensure the achievement of excellence, your Supreme Court has, among other measures, strengthened and fully supported the activities of the Philippine Judicial Academy under the able leadership of the indefatigable Mme. Justice Herrera.
Through PHILJA, the Supreme Court has delivered timely and indispensable training to judges and court personnel to equip them with the skills and tools necessary to meet the challenges brought about by new laws, new trends, and the expectations of the people. It has begun a series of Regional Seminars. This is the first. The topics which were taken up were timely and relevant to obtain for you some kind of transformation to make you face your sacramental task with vigor and vitality, and fulfill your duty with courage and love.
But this measure alone will not guarantee success. The men and women of the Judiciary – especially those in the frontline, you who are here today – are neither mere apparatuses nor robots who can be programmed with a set of instructions and then allowed to run on automatic. The Judiciary’s troops in the field are human beings who must 136 respond to situations and deal with challenges more creatively than robots can. For this reason, they are more productive for the Judiciary and more helpful to society than robots can ever be. And for this reason, they need every possible support they can get.
That is why I am here. Continuous training is just a small part of the Supreme Court’s support to the judges and court personnel. I personally believe that the abilities of our judicial officers and employees will be further enhanced by a strong spirit and boosted morale. Thus I must be aware of your anxieties, the hindrances that you must cope with from day to day. These matters we shall take up during our dialogue a few minutes from now.
Our overaching goal of judicial reform is a two-way process. The experiences of different organizations in different countries have established with unquestionable certainty that reform efforts that are not rooted in the basic sectors are bound to fail. Projects that are dictated by the apex of the organizational pyramid are, more often than not, without any means of sustainable sustenance and are thus doomed to collapse.
On the other hand, efforts that find their foundation among the basic sectors, in our case the judges and court personnel, have the assurance of support and commitment of those sectors. With such energy and spirit behind such efforts, how can failure ever be a possibility?
137 With this in mind, we continue to craft ways to attain our ideal Judiciary, one that is independent, effective and efficient, and worthy of public trust and confidence. This is our objective, this is our mission. May the brief training you have undergone in this seminar bring us closer to that objective.
Congratulations and may God bless us all. 138 AGE QUOD AGE
Justice Sabino R. De Leon, Jr. Supreme Court
Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera, Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy; Friends; Ladies and Gentlemen.
Before anything else, allow me to congratulate the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and all of you…the participants in this Regional Multi-Sectoral Seminar on Juvenile and Domestic Relations Justice. I am sure that this seminar was quite interesting and informative, and that it was worthy of your sacrifice to be away from your homes and loved ones for a period of four days.
In the administration of Juvenile and Domestic Relations Justice, you are all important, whether you come from the Judges’ and Branch Clerks of Courts’ sector, the prosecutors’ sector, the PAO or public defenders’ sector, the courts’ social workers’ sector, and other relevant public sectors like the police, the employees of the Bureau of Jail Management & Penology, and counsellors in Women’s and Children’s Correctional Institutions. Each one of you has a significant role to play in the sound and humane administration of Juvenile and Domestic
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the First Regional Multi-Sectoral Seminar on Juvenile and Domestic Relations Justice, on September 29, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 139 Relations Justice which affects the family, women and the youth in your respective communities. Each one of you is important and necessary, just as each part of the human body is important and necessary to the well-being of the human body.
I would like to share an anecdote with you. One day, certain parts of the human body of a person named Juan had a lively debate as to which of them is the most important.
The eyes said: We are the most important. Because of us, Juan can see what he needs to see; he can see and look at beautiful women, places and things during the day and also at night; he can gaze at the stars, the moon and the galaxies in the sky.
The hand said: We are the most important. Because we enable Juan to do work to earn his means of livelihood. We bring food to his mouth to give him sustenance and nutrition so he can be healthy and strong.
But the feet said: We are the most important. Because we enable Juan to travel to different places including his place of work.
And then the lowly annus said: Gee whiz, they say they are all important and imply as if I am not. For a few days, I think I will just close up and not function. So the lowly annus closed up for a few days. And so poor Juan had a terrible stomach ache and headache, so much so that his eyesight dimmed, his ears could not hear, while his hands and feet 140 became swollen, all black and blue, and could no longer move. So, there you are – draw your own conclusion.
The immediate beneficiaries of your work or function in the administration of Juvenile and Domestic Relations Justice are the family, women and the youth, whose well-being and protection are mandated not only by the Constitution, but also by international agreements.
Thus, for example, in the declaration of state policies, our Constitution mandates that:
“Sec. 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution.
“Sec. 13. The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being.
x x x
“Sec. 14. The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.”
The Philippines is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 141 Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Four general principles are enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, namely, (1) non-discrimination, (2) best interests of the child, (3) the right to life, survival and development of the child, and (4) the views of the child. The said Convention mandates, among others, that the State shall protect children from the illegal use of drugs; and that children in detention shall be separated from adults. In other words, in the administration of Juvenile and Domestic Relations Justice, in your hands, individually and collectively as a team, are three most precious segments of Philippine society, namely, the family, women and children.
It has been observed and I think you will agree with me that strong families make for a strong nation. Inversely put, weak families invariably means a morally weak nation.
On youth, our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, once said: “Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.” (The youth is the hope of the motherland). And the good mothers of families would date to say: “Our children are our jewels.” That statement is not easy to dispute because it is noble and true.
I would like to tell you another anecdote. One morning a young boy was walking along the beach when he saw an old man picking up something and throwing it to the sea. So the boy approached the old man and asked: “What are you doing?” The old man answered: “You see this jellyfish which I have just picked up? I will throw it back to the sea.” And he 142 did. Then the boy said: “But there are so many jellyfish here, all washed ashore. They will all die anyway. So what’s the difference?” The old man stooped again and picked up a jellyfish and as he hurled it back to the sea, he spoke: “That, certainly makes a difference to that jellyfish.”
So you, too, can make a difference in the lives of children, women and families whom you come across in your line of work in the administration of Juvenile and Domestic Relations Justice. In other words, your work, your jobs are indeed meaningful. So, “age quod age,” as the Latin adage goes. That means, do well whatever you are doing.
Because as judges, prosecutors, public defenders, social workers, police officers and workers in children’s and women’s welfare institutions, you are supposed to be role models in your respective communities. Let me recite to you the poem entitled “ANYWAY” which is displayed on the wall of the Children’s Home of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. It is a good philosophy of life and code of action. I recommend it to you. The poem goes something like this:
“People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
143 If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help, but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have got, and you’ll get kicked on the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got…Anyway.”
And so, despite whatever difficulties, let us give the Filipino family, women and the youth the best we’ve got…anyway.
And finally, let the Certificate of Completion which each one of you will receive this afternoon be a badge of recognition and honor, and a token of appreciation from the UNICEF and the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
Congratulations again, and may the Good Lord bless us all!
144 CENTENNIAL JUDGES
Justice Arturo B. Buena Supreme Court
A pleasant afternoon to all, my distinguished colleagues in the Judiciary, honored guests, revered friends, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of the Chief Justice and thirteen (13) of my esteemed colleague-justices in the Supreme Court, I warmly extend my hand in welcoming you all to a maiden voyage in the judicial service – a life fashioned against a resplendent backdrop of challenges, responsibilities, thrills, burden, stress, personal reflection, soul-searching, accountability and public service.
As each of you, newly appointed judges, would soon discover, the life of a true magistrate of the law is never easy, never a bore, never without color. In this regard, each of you would be accorded the opportunity to relish the truism in the legal profession that the law indeed is one jealous mistress. Certainly, days would be long and arduous, fraught with trials, protracted litigation and scheduled hearings designed to test the limits of one’s intellectual stamina, integrity and independence. Nights would even be longer and unforgiving, spent in countless hours of decision and resolution writing, “Night Courts,” sorting and weighing of evidence,
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the 16th Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges, on October 20, 2000, at the Philippine Judicial Academy, Tagaytay City. 145 painstaking review of transcript of stenographic notes, case records and immersion into other fruitful and recreational activities, if only for the purpose – pragmatic at that – of keeping flesh and spirit harmonized and sanity intact.
After all, judges are mortals, too, trained in the noble ways of the law; ordinary individuals expected to rise above the lure of mediocrity – intellect and ethics wise.
In a more serious light though, perhaps fate would have its way that your recent appointment to the Judiciary is opportune at such historic moment where the Supreme Court shall celebrate its Centenary next year. To this end, I consider your illustrious crop privileged to be referred to as “Centennial Judges,” raised in the pedestal of legal hierarchy at a time when judicial reforms and ethical resurgence among members of both Bench and Bar, are the pressing order and burning issues of the day under the Davide Court.
As part of the Supreme Court’s Centenary Celebration, the High Court shall hold various activities among of which are the Centenary Lecture Series, Computerization Program for the Judiciary, Publication of the Supreme Court History Book, Mass Housing Program for employees of the Judiciary, Implementation of “Zero Backlog” on pending cases, and the Centennial Awards for Judicial Excellence. As new magistrates, we expect no less than your full cooperation and wholehearted support, as these programs aim to build a more dynamic Judiciary – 146 one which generates pride in its members and one which our people could cherish and hold in high esteem. Concededly, much has yet to be done and accomplished. Nonetheless, the first stone has been cast and the torch has been lit, so to speak.
Thus, through the passage of Republic Act No. 8557 which institutionalized and breathed life to the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), the public may now very well reap the fruits of a revitalized Judiciary, where incumbent members thereof as well as aspirants thereto, are afforded the pertinent legal tools to aid them in the noble task of dispensing justice evenly to our people. To be sure, judges should at all times endeavor to keep abreast with the recent amendments to the law and the latest jurisprudence enunciated by the High Court. Any member of the prestigious Bench worth his salt, owes it not only to himself but also to the legal profession and the public he serves, to pursue a more firm grasp of the law through a continuous study thereof.
After all, no judge could ever claim a monopoly of knowledge of law, at least not when the legislative mill still grinds and the judicial plume scours the earth.
Scanning through the literature provided for in this PHILJA Seminar-Workshop and browsing through the roster of its lecturers and faculty, I cannot help but notice a bounty of illustrious names and the respective topics of legal significance and weight assigned to them. If only for this, may you nurture the confidence to hurdle any task, address any legal 147 query and issue, and face any professional challenge that awaits you as judges in your respective courts of assignment.
Yet to shimmer in the vast field of law, it is not enough that a judge – as a true particle of justice – be erudite and knowledgeable of the law, as to both its intricacies and idiosyncrasies. Needless to say, a magistrate of the law should likewise be industrious and zealous toward work – ever striving to polish his chosen craft like a skillful artisan.
The keyword is industry, for the Judiciary offers no haven to the timorous and frowns deeply upon the lethargic. In the same vein, judges ought to be mindful of the crucial role they play in keeping the flames of justice alive and forever burning. Cognizant of this sacred task, judges are duty-bound to vigilantly and conscientiously man the wheel of justice as it grinds through eternity. In a sense, judges are revered as modern-day sentinels, who, like their erudite forerunners, must never slumber, so to speak, in the hour of service to their countrymen.1
For as lady justice never sleeps, so must the gallant men tasked to guard her domain.2
As keepers of the law, judges should likewise, at all times, protect the image of the courts as hallowed temples of justice and refuge of the oppressed. Being at the helm of the judicial ship, the
1 Report on the Judicial Audit conducted in RTC-Branch 20, Manila, Administrative Matter No. 00-1-48-RTC, per Justice Arturo B. Buena. 2 Ibid. 148 actuation of those who don the judicial robe and wield the judicial gavel should always be in sharp congruence to the Code of Judicial Conduct, which sternly demands of judges rectitude and urbanity in the conduct of their affairs, official or otherwise.3 True enough, judges are not merchants and justice ought not to be cheap commodity of trade and commerce.
On this solemn note, I dare challenge you to remain true to your sacred oath as magistrates, and to once in a while look back and ponder on these poignant reminders, which I am sure would guide you – judges of the New Millennium – in our worthy quest for a better Judiciary, one which produces judges whose concern transcends legal rationales, but focuses on the basic fairness of decisions; a Court that majestically stands in singularity as a fitting tribute to a hundred years of administering justice in every terrain of our vast archipelago.
Again, I bid you a pleasant day and an illustrious judicial career ahead of you. Congratulations to you all!
3 Alfonso and Coraminda Lumibao vs. Judge Mamerto C. Panal, MCTC, Malungon-Alabel, Saranggani, A.M. No. 95-35-MTJ, promulgated on 25 November 1999, per Justice Arturo B. Buena. 149 UNITY IN THE SERVICE OF THE JUDICIARY
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
Mme. Justice and Chancellor Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera; DCA Zenny Elepaño; DCA Bernard Ponferrada; ACA Pepe Perez; and my fellow workers in the Judiciary.
This affair marks the end of PHILJA’s 2nd Regional Seminar for Judges, Clerks of Court, Branch Clerks of Court, Legal Researchers, and Sheriffs. The first was in Tuguegarao City for the 2nd Judicial Region last 20-22 September. I was also there on the third day for the closing ceremonies. Nobody, not even the Chief Justice, can decline an invitation from Mme. Justice Herrera to participate in PHILJA conferences or seminars. She is the heart, mind and soul – the life – of PHILJA.
I am sure that whatever you learned in this seminar will be of practical use to all of you in the performance of your respective duties. You have exposed yourselves not only to the various ways by which justice can be best administered, but also to each other as integral components of the justice machinery. Ultimately, the bonds of cooperation
* Inspirational Message delivered at the Closing Ceremonies of the Second Regional Seminar for Judges, Clerks of Court, Branch Clerks of Court, Legal Researchers and Sheriffs of the Regional Trial Courts and First-Level Courts of Region VII, on October 27, 2000, at the Bohol Tropics Resort, Tagbilaran City. 150 among you who have participated in this seminar will benefit the public at large.
I have always extolled the virtues of honesty, diligence, efficiency and the pursuit of excellence in public service. In fact, at the very start of my tenure as Chief Justice, I set my goals in The Davide Watch: Leading the Philippine Judiciary and the Legal Professional Towards the Third Millennium. Many of you have heard or read it. I feel, however, that you and all those who support the justice system must be constantly reminded of this mission-vision statement so that we will act in one direction.
I believe that the Judiciary, as the constitutionally designated arbiter of all legal disputes in our democratic system of government, must, at all times, maintain its independence and remain immune from undue influence, without sacrificing comity with the co-equal branches. The Judiciary, its officials and employees, and all members of the legal profession, as officers of the Court, must, therefore, be of utmost competence and unassailable integrity.
By the same token, as the Judiciary is meant to serve the people through the dispensation of justice, the Bench must be fully accountable to the public by remaining transparent, yet not betray those aspects of the judicial process which require utmost confidentiality. Members of the Judiciary and court personnel – this means we – must unerringly adhere to the constitutional precept that public office is a public trust. 151
And so, let me remind you that the system of administration of justice must be geared to achieve the goal of delivering fair, impartial and swift justice. Hence, the core values of the rule of law, equal justice, judicial independence and the pursuit of excellence should be preserved and at all times be predominant.
Please keep in mind that we are here to serve the public. This is why we must work together as a unit, that is, a Judiciary that is independent, effective and efficient, and worthy of public trust and confidence.
You all know what independence is. It is freedom to act. No one must influence our actions. No one. In our line of work, the best way to ensure that the blind lady of justice stays that way is to exercise sobriety. Self-restraint, on the other hand, can be achieved only by maintaining a high level of integrity.
Effectiveness and efficiency are dictated by our personal quest for perfection. Taking part in seminars like this is a part of that quest. We must not take anything for granted. Neither must we dwell on matters that benumb our mind and, ultimately, our spirit. Government people are often criticized for supposedly spending more time on gossip than on work. Whether there is any truth to this is up to us to determine.
All these, of course, are captured in the public’s eye. Perception is the other side of image. If the 152 people see that we are mere puppets, yielding to pressure or promise of wealth, power, or fame, or that we are incompetent, or that we are lazy workers who wait only for the clock to strike five o’clock, they lose trust, not only in us, but more importantly, in the system that we represent. This signals the demise of justice itself. That we cannot afford to happen. That we must never allow to happen. For, the demise of justice is the death of democracy and the democratic institutions. We must be one in preserving justice.
You may have noticed that the predominant theme in this message is UNITY.
U is for UNDIVIDED. There is a popular adage that goes like this: “United we stand, divided we fall.” I could not have stated it better, for division is the antithesis of unity. Organizations, even entire nations, fall because of the disintegration of order, which, in turn, is due to the fragmentation of ideals and goals. To achieve success in any endeavor, from the smallest task to the most important duty, a group must always act as a unit. Since last year, the Court has been vigorously pursuing a comprehensive judicial reform program aimed at improving the administration of justice. We will need everybody’s cooperation to make this work. We need to work together.
N stands for NOBILITY. The Judiciary is one of the three co-equal branches of government. Politics has continuously tainted the image of the Executive and Legislative branches. I certainly hope that this will not happen in the Judiciary, and that we 153 persevere in keeping our institution truly the bastion of justice. In doing so, we need to preserve the noble ideals that justice represents, such as fairness, equality, rule of law, and independence.
I is for INITIATIVE. It could stand for INERTIA. Both words connote a driving force, a motivation that could only come from within each of us. Once positive change is set in motion, it will create a chain reaction, like a ripple in a pool of water, which will affect the outer reaches of the justice system.
T means we must be TENACIOUS in our efforts. In order to achieve positive goals, we must be resolute and unrelenting. It is true that most things have to be done in stages. A problem may occur if we stop at one stage of our objectives. Sustainability of programs of action can best be done by doggedly pursuing them.
Finally, Y means YOU, for you alone, individually or as a group, can make all these things happen. If any of the positive changes I mentioned earlier is even to be achieved within our lifetime, it can only happen if you in the Judiciary and everyone else in the civil service, make public interest and the public – as one song goes – the first, the last, the everything.
I am glad that this city was chosen to be the venue for this affair. The Province of Bohol is famous for many things – the Chocolate Hills; ancestral homes; ancient churches; the tarsier, which is the 154 smallest monkey in the world; and many exotic flora and fauna found only in the forest. But Bohol plays a very important role in our history as well. It is the site of the blood compact between Rajah Sikatuna and the Spaniard Miguel Lopez de Legaspi on 16 March 1565. In memory of that treaty of friendship, sealed in blood, so to speak, Boholanos celebrate the Sandugo Festival each year.
In the spirit of Sandugo, which literally means “one blood,” I implore you, my fellow servants in the Judiciary, to act as one – to be united – in striving to work for our country and our people, and in giving each individual in search of justice nothing but the best you have in learning, knowledge, understanding, wisdom and integrity.
Thank you, and may God always guide you toward the right path.
155 CORPORATE REHABILITATION
Justice Reynato S. Puno Supreme Court
First. Let me congratulate you on your appointment as judges of our special commercial courts that will handle cases involving corporate rehabilitation. You deserve to be congratulated for unbeknown to you, you underwent a rigorous selection process. If I may so reveal, the High Court instructed the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) certain criteria in the selection of judges who will man these specialized commercial courts. Among others, they are the following:
(a) Good academic credentials on economics; (b) Experience in corporation practice, especially in the handling of cases before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); (c) Track record in speedy disposition of cases; and (d) Reputation for probity and integrity.
The OCA then laboriously scoured our long list of judges throughout the length and breadth of the archipelago. The short list was submitted to the Court last November 21 and further screened the names therein. You are the final choices of the High Court, its best bets to prove that Congress acted with wisdom when it decided to transfer cases involving corporate rehabilitation from the SEC to the regular courts.
* Closing Remarks delivered at the Training Seminar for Judges on Corporate Law, Insolvency and Rehabilitation, on November 29, 2000, at the Development Academy of the Philippines, Tagaytay City. 156 Second. Having said that, let me stress the heavy responsibility that rests on you shoulders. I have asked the SEC to give me the available data on the number of cases involving suspension of payments filed in its office. The data show the following:
(a) From 1982 to October 27, 2000, some 118 cases were filed; (b) The total assets involved in these cases amount to P238,245,367,885.48; (c) The total liabilities amount to P170,680,471,215.54; (d) Of the cases filed, 52 were dismissed, 8 were withdrawn, 1 archived; and (e) Only 1 corporation (BF Homes) was rehabilitated.
These disquieting data must have prompted Congress to enact R.A. No. 8799 which transferred SEC’s quasi-judicial authority to the regular courts. Allow me to be more exact on the purpose of Congress by quoting the explanatory note of Senate Bill No. 104 introduced by Senator Raul S. Roco. It states:
“P.D. 902-A, more popularly known as the SEC Law, vests in the Securities and Exchange Commission absolute jurisdiction, supervision and control over corporations, partnerships or associations. It also administers the Revised Securities Act, B.P. 178.
On top of its regulatory and adjudicative functions, Section 5 of the Decree vests in the Commission original and exclusive jurisdiction over fraudulent acts perpetrated by corporations, intra- corporate disputes, controversies in the 157 election of corporate directors or trustees, and petitions of corporations for suspension of payments.
The recent years, however, have witnessed the retirement of experienced and competent hearing officers in the Commission. Due perhaps to their youth and inexperience, the decisions promulgated by the young lawyers who took over are more often than not reversed on appeal by the Commission en banc. Thus, a significant amount of the Commission’s time is spent correcting the decision of its subordinates, which it could have devoted instead to encouraging domestic and foreign investments and more active public participation in private corporations and enterprises.
This notwithstanding, recent laws have added to the load of the SEC. To cite one example, the New Central Bank Act transferred the Bangko Sentral’s regulatory powers over financing companies to the Commission. And with the looming passage of the new Securities Act, the Commission will be burdened with additional responsibilities.
As recommended by the Commission itself, the attached bill proposes the revision of the SEC Charter by transferring the Commission’s quasi- judicial authority to the regular courts. 158 Not only will this free the Commission to devote more time to its other regulatory functions, it will also ensure litigants that their cases will be decided by experienced judges.
To help improve the business climate of the country, assure the continued flow of investments from here and abroad, and to speed up the administration of justice in the country, passage of the attached bill is recommended.”
The same sentiment was expressed in House Bill No. 9933 introduced by Congressman Pacifico M. Fajardo. Senate Bill No. 104 and House Bill No. 9933 were the matrix of R.A. No. 8799.
These facts and figures as well as the rationale of R.A. No. 8799 bristle with messages. Let me focus on the message directed to you as judges of these specialized commercial courts. This important message written in Cyrillic letters is that billions of pesos are locked in these ailing corporations, billions of pesos that can be used to prop up our faltering economy.
Third. It is your mission to unlock these billions of pesos in the shortest possible time. Your mission is not impossible. The key to your mission of unlocking this treasure is the rehabilitation of these ailing but still viable corporations. There are important players in the game, but you are the most important in your capacity as judges. This is the sense and essence of the change made by R.A. No. 8799 that corporate rehabilitation should now be a court-assisted endeavor.
159 Let me now stress that the law and the rules spelled out their concerns and endowed you as judges with enough powers and prerogatives so that you can accomplish your difficult mission. Let me brighten some of them even if I am sure that your distinguished lecturers have already given you a masterful tour of the contours of the law and its implementing rules.
First, I invite your attention to the special concern that rehabilitation should be resolved speedily. The corporations involved are usually hemorrhaging to death. They are already laid back in the ICUs and they need immediate attention to be revived. Time is of the essence for, in some cases, their life or death will have a critical impact on the economy. You have been endowed with powers to stop the skid of these corporations to their graves. I want you to realize that you are not to be straitjacketed by technicalities for the rules decree that the proceedings shall be summary and non-adversarial. For this reason, they require the petition to be as detailed and as complete as possible unlike the Rules of Court which requires only the pleading of ultimate facts. They do not allow the filing of motion to dismiss; motion for bill of particulars; motion for new trial or for reconsideration; petition for relief; motion for extension; memorandum; motion for postponement; reply or rejoinder; third party complaint and intervention. Service of pleadings is allowed to be by fax or e-mail, another first in our rules of procedure. Your interlocutory order is also made immediately executory even if challenged. This is another innovation for it changes the usual rule where a judge, whose order is challenged in a higher court, is expected to stop the execution of his order.
160 Second, I call your attention to the great latitude and longitude of your powers under the rules. Three of these great powers are the power to appoint the receiver, the power to issue a stay order and the power to cram down a rehabilitation plan despite the opposition of creditors. If you cast a heedful eye to foreign laws and jurisprudence, you will find that there is hardly a model granting all these powers in the hands of a judge presiding in cases involving corporate rehabilitation. In Canada, for instance, courts do not have the power to force a rehabilitation plan down the throats of creditors. In the United States, the power exists but is subject to many limitations. I urge you to study your vast arsenal of powers for properly wielded, you cannot fail.
Just one final thought. Even as the High Court is confident of your legal capability, I urge you to immerse yourself in the science of economics in the discharge of your duties as corporate rehabilitation judges. Thus, a good grasp of economics will immediately help you appreciate the merit or lack of merit of a petition for rehabilitation. It will help you understand the degree of the state of insolvency of the debtor in possession. It will help you in appreciating the legitimate concerns of creditors, especially the secured creditors. It will help you exercise prudence before you resolve to cram down a rehabilitation plan despite opposition of others holding substantial interest in the corporation. It will give you a more authoritative, wholistic view of the good of the corporation and the greater good of the public.
Let me conclude with a quote from Professor Andrew Altman on the need for merging the knowledge of law with economics, viz: 161
“The law and economics movement is part of a trend that uses economic ideas, such as the concept of efficiency, to account for decisions and practices seemingly far removed from the impersonal transactions of the marketplace.
x x x
We should be careful to distinguish among three separate theses belonging to the law and economic approach; the descriptive, the explanatory, and the evaluative. The descriptive thesis holds that economic concepts and principles provide illuminating descriptions of legal rules. The explanatory thesis holds that economic concepts and principles help provide the best explanation for why society has the legal rules it has. And the evaluative thesis holds that economic concepts and principles provide sound criteria for evaluating legal rules and determining which ones society ought to have.
x x x
The importance that the movement places on economic efficiency stems from a certain understanding of history, especially the history of the twentieth century. According to that understanding, some societies almost 162 entirely ignored efficiency, and the results were catastrophic for them; while others took efficiency seriously, with large beneficial results. In the first category, for example, are the old Soviet Union and Eastern bloc, and, until recently, China. The results of refusing to take efficiency seriously were economic stagnation, political repression, and a culture of sloth and indolence. In the second category are the United States and other Western industrialized nations (at least during certain periods).
The results of taking efficiency seriously have been economic growth, political liberty, and a culture that values hard work and innovative thinking. This is, of course, a very oversimplified account of history and even a caricature of it. But it brings into bold relief the essential understanding of history that leads the advocates of law and economics to insist that efficiency be taken seriously.”
It is not everyday that we are given the opportunity to discharge a task of immense significance to our people and this is one great opportunity. I ask you to seize this opportunity and given your dedication, your capability and your sense of sacrifice, I have no doubt you shall succeed.
Thank you and again, congratulations to all of you.