2nd Sem

A Supreme Lack of Faith

A Supreme Lack of Faith
The judiciary stands accused of corruption
By Matthew Fletcher and Antonio Lopez / Manila

AS GENERAL COUNSEL FOR the private investigation into the 1983 murder of Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Andres Narvasa did the unexpected. He fingered the aides closest to military strongman Ferdinand Marcos. That courageous verdict helped spark the 1986 People Power revolution that ousted Marcos, and it turned Narvasa into a hero. He joined the Supreme Court, and was appointed chief justice in 1991. Today, though, the 68-year-old Narvasa is under fire. Critics are charging the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, with corruption. Calls for an independent commission to investigate the claims are many, and increasingly difficult to ignore.
Few institutions in the Philippines are immune to allegations of corruption. But the Supreme Court has never before come under such a fierce attack. Sheila Coronel, the daughter of a prominent trial lawyer, began the siege in May with a series of articles for the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. While she had no proof of bribery, she accused the Court of selling decisions to the highest bidder. "Narvasa presides over a court whose reputation has sunk to its lowest in a decade," she wrote. Item one for the prosecution: a survey conducted by the influential Makati Business Club that found the highest court had fallen in esteem from first place in 1986 to No. 18, below even the national telephone service.
Then a regional newspaper reported that unnamed litigants had bribed Supreme Court officials to help win favorable verdicts. The chief justice finally spoke up. In a speech to the Philippine Judges Association last week, he dismissed the bad press as "hearsay, gossip, calumny, insults, directed against people whose credentials are, on record, of superior quality."
Fine words. But the charges still stand. The criticism focuses on judges' low salaries, which some believe make them vulnerable to bribery, and their heavy workloads. Lawyers also gripe that the absence of a judicial philosophy (conservative or liberal) makes it nearly impossible for them to advise clients. Narvasa calls that independence. "The chief justice is first among equals," he said. "No member of the Court should be influenced by the chief justice or his colleagues." Or, it seems, by precedent. Last year, the Supreme Court overturned numerous trademark rulings by deciding in favor of a Philippine garments manufacturer whose label is similar to U.S. jeans-maker Lee.
Business and politics often intersect at the Supreme Court. And a string of recent decisions have highlighted differences with the government -- and fed speculation that justices have succumbed to bribery. Among them: the Court's February decision to void the 1995 sale of 51% of the historic Manila Hotel to Malaysia's Renong Overseas, on the grounds that Filipinos should be given preference. The hotel went to newspaper tycoon Emilio Yap. The ruling led to protests from foreign investors. President Fidel Ramos slammed the judiciary for derailing his privatization plans. Later that month, the Court upheld a decision ordering the government to launch a preliminary investigation against tycoon Lucio Tan because its four-year $1-billion tax evasion case was technically flawed for lack of due process.
Nor have other decisions won many friends in Malaca–ang Palace. In March, the Court ruled that a popular initiative to remove constitutional term limits for elected officials -- and allow the president to run for a second term -- was illegal. The government appealed the ruling. Last week, despite signs that justices had been pressured, the Court upheld its decision.
Narvasa has not escaped the spotlight. Some criticize his socializing: he plays tennis with practising lawyers, and has been seen on the golf course with chief presidential counsel Renato Cayetano. While there is no suggestion that Narvasa has done anything wrong, his brother-in-law, attorney Joaquin Yuseco, has been accused of approaching a judge on behalf of litigants. Narvasa's son has been criticized for continuing to act as a trial lawyer. "I don't interfere in the workings of the Supreme Court," Gregorio Narvasa says.
It's not just the Supreme Court that has a tarnished reputation. "The public feels the courts have failed to deliver criminal justice appropriately," says presidential candidate Joseph Estrada. He says known drug lords have been acquitted in some cases. "In the dispensation of justice, as in politics, perception is reality," says the vice president. Nearly half of all attorneys practising in major cities believe their local judges have accepted a bribe, says Estrada. "There is a perception that justice can be bought," asserts Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile.
With that level of popular distrust, the judiciary must try to clear its name. The first step would be to set up an independent commission with sufficient funds to probe the allegations. "I cannot think of any other way," says Sen. Edgardo Angara, ex-head of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. "Otherwise, [corruption] will just fester to the detriment of the institution." Not to mention to the detriment of Filipinos.


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posted by Graciella @ 5:11 AM