UPHOLDING JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE

(Speech delivered by Chief Justice Renato C. Corona during the Commencement Exercises of the Philippine Law School; 3:00 p.m., March 26, 2012, Philippine International Convention Center.)

Dean Manuel R. Bustamante, Judge Janzen

R. Rodriguez, President Sabina Lacson, Executive

Vice-President Rosalia G. Kapauan, Atty. Amado

Maralit, officials and school administrators of the

Philippine Law School, members of the faculty,

parents, spouses and friends, graduates,

distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, a

warm and pleasant good afternoon to all of you.

This afternoon’s ceremony is a rite of

passage. It marks the culmination of an

academic journey that will, for all of our

graduates, always be associated with hard

2

work, perseverance and sacrifice. My heartfelt

congratulations to you as you celebrate this

moment of triumph, for today is your day and it

belongs to you and to you alone. Cherish this

moment forever.

Thank you for inviting me to be with you

this afternoon. Truth to tell, I could not help but

feel a little emotional when I received your

invitation. You see, my late father, Atty. Juan

Molinyawe Corona, was a proud alumnus of this

great institution. In the living room of our old

ancestral house in Sta. Ana, Manila where I

grew up still hangs the Bachelor of Laws

diploma of my father, dated March 28, 1936.

3

That diploma, now wrinkled by the years,

has its own story to tell – that of a young man

from Tanauan, Batangas who dreamed to

become a lawyer and bravely faced the

challenges to achieve his dreams. He came to

Manila with grit and determination to make

something of himself by becoming a lawyer.

My father remained a very simple and

humble man to the very end. Not many knew

that he was an intellectual giant, one of the

Bureau of Internal Revenue’s recognized experts

in estate taxation. Fewer still were aware that he

produced three sons, all lawyers like him – a

former Secretary of Transportation and

4

Communications, a Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court and a former Vice–President of

the National Home Mortgage and Finance

Corporation. Indeed it will take long to tell my

father’s life story but if there is one thing that is

clear, it is the fact that everything started at the

Philippine Law School.

Philippine Law School is among the law

schools in the country that have produced the

most number of bar topnotchers, including one

of the bar examination’s early topnotchers,

Gregorio Anonas, in 1919.

The most famous alumnus of the Philippine

5

Law School was, of course, the valedictorian

(magna cum laude) of Class 1923, who placed

7th in that year’s bar examinations, and who

later became the fourth President of the

Philippines, the late President Carlos P. Garcia.

It is no coincidence that many lawyers

become leaders of our nation, for there is a call

upon the legal profession, in the words of

Associate Justice Louis Brandeis of the United

States Supreme Court, “to do great work for the

country.”1

During the presidency of Philippine Law

School alumnus Carlos P. Garcia, the big issue 1 http://bingaman.senate.gov/news/20090519-02.cfm

6

that gripped the nation was economic

independence. He said:

“If the Filipinos cannot be first in the Philippines, where else can they be first? Only when Filipinos are first in their country will the Philippines be finally truly free. Until then, their independence can only be a sham. While aliens control the economy, how can Filipinos be said to be masters in their homes or their government is sovereign in their lands? They are mere hirelings, dummies, servants—subservient to the will of others, serving their interest first. How can Filipinos advance their own?”2

The Garcia Administration from 1957 to

1961 was known for its “Filipino First Policy”

whose objective was “to make the Filipinos first

and supreme in the national economic

2 http://www.prescarlosgarcia.org

7

household of the Philippines.”3 Today, a

different kind of battle for independence is

gripping the consciousness of our people. It is

the fight for judicial independence.

When we speak of judicial independence,

(or independence of the judiciary), we are really

referring to two distinct concepts: first, the

powers of the judiciary as distinct and separate

from those of the two other great branches of

government and second, the judiciary’s

unhampered freedom to render decisions

without political pressure or outside influence.4

3 Id. 4 Justice Clarence Thomas. On Judicial Independence. 12 November 1999.

8

As we all know, the judiciary, together with

the executive and the legislative, is one of the

three co-equal departments of government. The

Constitution clearly defined and divided the

vast powers of government among these three

departments to ensure operational checks and

balances, with the avowed purpose of

preventing tyranny, as explained by James

Madison.5

Alexander Hamilton analyzed state power

very succinctly:

The Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the

5 Id.

9

rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment.6

Described as the “weakest” of the three

branches of government, the judiciary has been

at the receiving end of continued and relentless

attacks on its independence, from media-

bashing to budgetary cuts and impounding, to

impeachment and unending threats of

impeachment. All these have only one purpose,

and that is to create a compliant and malleable

judiciary.

6 The Federalist, No. 78.

10

It is indeed unfortunate that there are

those, some even in the higher echelons of

government, who refuse to acknowledge the

role of the judiciary to uphold the supremacy of

the Constitution. We are a government of laws,

not of men, and the foundation of our laws is

the Constitution. The interpretation of the laws

and the Constitution is the proper and peculiar

province of the courts.7

Ang Republika ng Pilipinas ay isang bansa

sa ilalim ng batas kung saan ang Saligang Batas

ang namamayani. Walang sinuman ang mas

mataas o hihigit pa sa Saligang Batas.

7 Id.

11

Popular opinion or political expediency

does not sway the way we decide cases in the

judiciary. We do not have constituencies whose

interests we have to protect nor any agenda we

have to espouse. It is the ability to render

independent judgment, without fear or favor,

that separates us and makes us distinct from

the two other branches of government.

Tulad nga po ng madalas sabihin ng isang

tanyag na komentarista, “Wala po tayong

kinikilingan. Wala po tayong pinoprotektahan.”

Tayo po ay narito na may iisang dahilan lamang:

ang pairalin ang batas at tiyakin ang karapatan

ng mga mamamayan ay naaayon sa Saligang

12

Batas.

When judges are free to decide cases in

accordance with their unbiased and

uninfluenced interpretations of the law,

members of society can expect more predictable

decisions and resolutions because outcomes

are not based on the whim of those with money

or power enough to sway the judiciary.8

The independence of the judiciary is meant

to empower it as the guardian of the rule of

law.9 It is neither for its honor nor for its

prestige, but essentially for the public interest

8 Justice Clifford Wallace. An Essay on Independence of the Judiciary: Independence From What

and Why. 08 May 2002. 9 J. S. Verma, Judicial Independence: Is It Threatened? 29 January 2010.

13

and the preservation of the rule of law.10

At the end of the day, the Supreme Court,

often referred to as the Court of Last Resort,

must never compromise its duty to safeguard

that, in accordance with the fundamental law

of the land, sovereignty will always reside in the

people and all government authority will always

emanate from them. It is therefore of critical

importance to our democracy that we uphold

judicial independence at all times and under all

circumstances. Ang Korte Suprema ay husgado,

hindi ng mga namumuno, kundi husgado ng

sambayanan!

10 Id.

14

Many times I have been asked why I

submitted myself to the impeachment process,

knowing that everything will be thrown at me

and my family. My answer has always been

simple and direct: I have done no wrong to

anyone nor ever violated my oath as a

magistrate. My adversaries can fabricate all

they want to besmirch me and my family but,

in the end, it will still be between me and the

Lord God Almighty. That is what I learned from

my father, what I want my children and their

children to live by and what I now want to

impart to this graduating class: you should be

prepared to lose everything when you are

fighting for your principles.

15

I have nothing to gain but everything to

lose in this fight. Acquittal will give me nothing

new which I already do not have. But if I am

not upheld, my life will turn upside down,

losing everything that has always been dear to

me – my pride, my honor, the stability and

peace of our family, my friends even, my

retirement pay and pension for which I have

worked hard all these years.

And yet, why am I risking all this? Yes,

indeed, why? For one reason alone and it is the

fact that, in my heart of hearts, I am fighting

for democracy and the preservation of the

fundamental freedoms that guarantee the

16

preservation of our way of life.

As future lawyers, you shall eventually take

your oath to serve the law, to obey the law and

to inspire others to respect it. It would then be

our duty as members of this noble profession to

wield the law not as an instrument of deceit

and oppression but as a social apparatus for

the common good. As Philippine Law School’s

most illustrious alumnus, President Carlos P.

Garcia, said, “Only those who can remain free

are worthy of it. Freedom must be constantly

deserved.”11

11 http://www.prescarlosgarcia.org

17

Kung hindi sa ating mga hanay

manggagaling ang mga magtatanggol sa Korte

Suprema, sino ang aasahan natin mangunguna

para mapanatili ang kalayaan ng ating husgado?

Sa mga tulad ninyong maalam sa batas, pairalin

ang tama na naaayon sa inyong konsensiya —

hindi kung ano ang gusto ng nakararami.

Ipakita nating karapat-dapat tayo sa

pagkakaroon ng isang malaya at malakas na

demokrasya. Marami ang naniwala sa ating

adhikain. Makiisa at manindigan!

Thank you and congratulations. God bless

you all!