Thursday, November 24, 2011

What will save SC from intense assault? - POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr. - The Philippine Star » News » Opinion

What will save SC from intense assault? - POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr. - The Philippine Star » News » Opinion

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OPINION




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What will save SC from intense assault?
POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr. (The Philippine Star) Updated November 24, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (29) View comments

SHOWDOWN: The Supreme Court is under intense attack as an institution. 
Much of the bombardment appears to be coming from the direction of 
Malacañang and its allies.
Although the Executive and the Judiciary are supposed to be co-equal 
branches of a tripartite system, the fight looks lopsided.
Versus the billions at the disposal of Malacañang for propaganda, the 
Supreme Court has a measly sum for public information. Against the 
Palace’s panel of spokespersons, a network of information officers all 
over the bureaucracy, not to mention its mouthpieces imbedded in the
 media, the SC has only its Court Administrator doubling as spokesperson.
While the President has at his beck and call the armed forces, the national
 police and the National Bureau of Investigation, the Supreme Court has 
only its sheriffs and process servers to enforce its rulings and orders.
* * *
ERODED RESPECT: The stakes are high. If it is unable to withstand the 
attack, the Supreme Court as an institution could be reduced to irrelevance.
 Its controversial decisions could end up routinely defied by losing parties 
who have the means to put up an extrajudicial fight.
The open defiance by no less than the Justice Secretary of one of the Court’s 
recent orders has far-reaching implications. Its repeated failure to compel 
obedience results in the diminution of judicial power and influence all the 
way down to the lower courts.
If the attack on the credibility of the Court succeeds, decisions with high
 political impact or that go against the interests of influential parties could 
be challenged in the streets by mobs-for-hire as they are heckled in a contrived
Court of Public Opinion.
* * *
SC SHORTCOMINGS: The Supreme Court is partly to blame for its vulnerability.
For instance, its flip-flopping
 on high-profile cases raises 
the question of what it takes —
 aside from invoking the law —
 to win a case or reverse a 
decision that has long become 
final and executory.
It is unfair to the institution or
 to its majority, but the unsavory 
reputation of a few of its members 
stain the collective image of the 
tribunal.
The Supreme Court must be saved
 — from itself and from its unreasonable 
detractors — and strengthened as an
 institution.
To allow the psychological collapse
 of this third leg of government would be 
disastrous for
 the country. Who will move 
to save it as an institution?

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