“Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, INTEGRITY is their portion and proper virtue.”
–Francis Bacon, Sr.
Off all the offices man has created for our society, none compares to that of a judge. We laid upon their shoulders the affairs of adjudication, so that matters of justice are decided daringly, eruditely and prudently. Such qualities were formed out of our noble aspirations that a person, learned in the law, enriched by his age, strengthened by his firm resolve, should remain accountable only to God and history; his decisions stand amidst all adversities, to uphold the very attribute which makes our society great – the rule of law.
However, in a sorry twist of events, the corruption of our society had already reached the judiciary, if not so blatantly. These past few days, Court of Appeals Associate Justice, Mr. Justice Jose Sabio, Jr. has been entrenched in a bitter controversy with Makati businessman Mr. Francis de Borja, over an alleged bribery regarding the GSIS-Meralco controversy. According to the estranged magistrate, he was offered P10 million by an emissary of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to inhibit himself from a case filed by Meralco against the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and pave the way for Justice Bienvenido Reyes to chair the division that eventually ruled on the case. On the other hand, businessman Francis de Borja came out and said he had talked with Sabio, who supposedly told him that he had been offered by the government a “promotion to the Supreme Court and money” to rule in favor of the GSIS. De Borja, a friend of Meralco chair Manolo Lopez, also claimed that Sabio mentioned “P50 million” as the amount of money that would make him reject the government offer. The case was then decided by a different CA division that eventually ruled in favor of Meralco. This is where are instant controversy picked up steam, and so the story goes.
Again, the legal community is abuzz at the latest scandal to rock the profession. From law students to fellow academicians, from incumbent peers to dismissed magistrates, many are crossing swords to find out the truth behind the yarn. Legal luminaries urged the Supreme Court to punish those involved in an alleged bribery attempt, while some throw support behind their beleaguered mentor and colleague. A law school dean has warned the high court of public loss of faith in the judiciary that could give rise to political messiahs with adventurist agendas, while the aristocrat claims he only waits for his wife in a car. Opposing press conferences were already held by the parties, but still no definitive answer can be found. True enough; the highly elusive reality still manages to evade the scrutiny of the public, while the so-called “most venerable” institution of our republican society muses over its “black eye”.
It is not unbeknownst to many of the fact that the justice system has been pervaded by the malignancy of corruption. Decisions for sale and writs for rent are faced by ALL newbie lawyers once they start their legal career. There is a price list for everything. An anecdote sometimes trivializes this fact; a law professor asks a student his remedy if the judge denies his motion, the law student would reply with conviction “I will bribe the judge!” Today, this joke has become so remarkably truthful that a law professor would have to ask again for a remedy if the judge does not accept the bribe and dismisses the motion. Shall the answer be, “File a petition for certiorari, then bribe the justice?”
Let me clarify that I am not judging the character of anyone nor of any office in this instant controversy. As a child, I was raised with the highest respect for the position of a judge. My grandfathers were very honest magistrates, who shunned all forms of corruption. Lolo Entin, thru Auntie Lally, always reminded that "Honesty is the best policy." Whatever we possess today were reached through hard work and good blessings. Speaking as a law student, I am just struck in utter disbelief as the principles of legal and judicial ethics are being trampled by the very institution which is tasked with the preservation the rule of law. Its involvement in a tempestuous squabble has caused serious doubts on what is left of the credibility of the judiciary. Yes, the courts are not without fault. Being composed of humans, it is prone to acquire, if not to inherit, the inequities of the man and woman that occupy its chambers. That is why the law and courts have built in safety mechanisms to shield, if not immunize, the justice system from the perverse disease that has already afflicted the Presidency, legislature and the local governments.
This scandal has totally rocked the country. In the quest of lowering electric prices, the people watched and hoped that some good shall happen to the GSIS-Meralco controversy and not just some corporate dispute on proxy shares. There is a genuine social issue that has to be confronted. But sad to say, the oligarchic cancer has tarnished the last remaining bastion of credibility in our society. The courts were blemished, the body politic has been totally despoiled, money is the talk of the town and soon thereafter, a complete breakdown of law and order shall emerge from the people’s lack of trust in our institutions.
How then should the Supreme Court address these issues? It has just confirmed the back channel talks and the rumors of chamber practices in the judiciary. The SC has to stand firm and be relentless in going after court employees and officials involved in anomalies. They should continually penalize those found guilty of involvement in issues of graft and corruption. And they should start now. Chief Justice Reynato Puno is already undertaking measures, and for that, truly, the judiciary is not without hope. But as Henry Ward Beecher so aptly remarked, “Take all the robes of all the good judges that have ever lived on the face of the earth, and they would not be large enough to cover the iniquity of one corrupt judge.”
The people shall continue to wait and see. The courts are not completely helpless, unlike the Presidency and its bogus occupant that is already totally bereft of merit.
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