Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 22 | Page 28

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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY November 16 - 30, 2018
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Bersamin thanks Duterte for appointment, but
vows ‘judicial independence’
MANILA - In his 32 years in
the judiciary, newly appointed Chief
Justice Lucas Bersamin never
dreamed to become the nation’s
highest magistrate.
Now at the helm of the
Supreme Court (SC), Bersamin,
who called himself an “accidental
Chief Justice,” vowed judicial
independence,
saying
while
grateful for his appointment, he
owes President Rodrigo Duterte
nothing.
“I never dreamt of getting
this lofty position and so I did not
even try to work hard for getting
this position. I knew there may be
others who are more deserving
than I was,” Bersamin told ABS-
CBN News in an interview by the
network’s former justice beat
reporter, Ina Reformina, at the
high court, his first since he took
his oath Wednesday afternoon.
“Although I owe the president
a lot of gratitude for reposing his
trust and confidence in me, beyond
that, I hope the President pardons
me when I say that thanking you,
Mr. President, is not going to mean
that I owe you anything,” he said.
Duterte chose Bersamin,
69, over four other nominees,
including the most senior high
court magistrate, Senior Associate
Justice Antonio Carpio.
He will serve the post for
11 months before he reaches
the mandatory retirement age by
October next year.
Bersamin is the 25th Chief
Justice, taking the helm of a court
earlier rocked by leadership woes,
most recently the ouster of Maria
Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice in
May.
He
replaced
Sereno’s
successor Teresita de Castro, who
retired last October after less than
two months as chief magistrate. He
and De Castro were among eight
justices whovoted for Sereno’s
ouster via a quo warranto petition
filed by the Solicitor General.
In his 24-minute interview,
Bersamin shot down speculation
about his closeness to Malacañang,
saying he did not even vote for the
President and had only met him
once, in a “fleeting moment.”
“I do not personally know
the President. There was only
one time I met the President and
got (physically) close to him but
I did not even talk to him,” said
Bersamin, recalling the time he
met Duterte during De Castro’s
oath-taking as Chief Justice last
August.
He asserted that he “did not
use any influence” to get the job
he did not even aspire for in the
first place.
Addressing
the
public,
Bersamin said: “Unawain ninyo
ang aking mga unang araw sa
puwestong ito. Hindi ko po ito
hinangad mula’t sapul. Ako po’y
masasabi niyong accidental Chief
Justice.”
(Please understand me during
my first few days in this post. I did
not aspire for this from the very
start. I am what you may call an
accidental Chief Justice.)
He cited his track record-
-32 years in the judiciary, the
longest in the third branch of
government among Supreme
Court magistrates- and said he
was ready to see the job through.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE
Bersamin also addressed a
question on his voting record as
associate justice, during which
he several times favored the
administration.
He was among magistrates
who voted to uphold the widely
protested burial of the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng
mga Bayani, Duterte’s declaration
of martial law in Mindanao and its
extension, and the arrest of Duterte
critic, Sen. Leila de Lima.
He said judicial independence
does not mean opposition to
everything.
“You do not lose your
independence kung kumampi
ka sa isang panig. Kung ang
understanding niyo ng judicial
independence ay kontra sa lahat,
hindi maganda,” he said.
(You do not lose your
independence if you favor one
side. If that’s your understanding of
judicial independence is opposition
to everything, that’s not good.)
He said an independent
judiciary means one “resistant to
undue influence.”
Bersamin also emphasized the
collegial nature of the high court,
one made up of “15 independent-
minded magistrates.”
Bersamin said he would also
reach out to the rank and file of the
judiciary, citing how recent events
in the branch may have affected
them.
“I’ll try to boost their morale
which may be diminished a little
bit by their confusion about the
happenings in the leadership. It’s
not really their fault but it’s also
high time to remind them about
their primary obligation to serve
the people,” he said.
He said he would also
prioritize reform of procedural
law, or the set of rules followed in
court proceedings. Previous top
magistrates had initiated programs
to speed up snail-paced trials in the
country’s courts, long struggling
with brimming dockets.
“It is the Supreme Court
that has primary responsibility for
this. Congress cannot get involved
with this because that would be in
violation of separation of powers,
but the Supreme Court will be
up to this task because there are
already in the works these reforms
in procedural law, and that is the
passion that I will try to serve
in my 11 months of service.”(T.
Quismundo, abs-cbn)
SC asked to reverse ruling excluding Filipino in college
A GROUP of university profes-
sors yesterday asked the Supreme
Court to reverse its earlier decision
upholding a memorandum issued
by the Commission on Higher Ed-
ucation excluding Filipino and Pa-
nitikan (Literature) from core sub-
jects in college.
In a 19-page motion for re-
consideration, Alyansa ng Mga
Tagapagtanggol ng Wikang Filipi-
no or Tanggol Wika, through their
lawyer, Maneeka Asistol Sarza,
asked the tribunal to reinstate the
temporary restraining order it ear-
lier lifted in its decision restraining
CHED Memorandum Order No.
20 which they said is unconstitu-
tional.
The order issued by CHED
in 2013 abolished mandatory sub-
jects in the current curriculum
such as Literature, Filipino lan-
guage and Philippine government
and Constitution from the general
education core courses, and was
affirmed by the SC in a decision is-
sued late last month.
In the same order, the SC
also affirmed the legality of the
controversial K to 12 program of
the Department of Education that
added two more years to the previ-
ous 10-year basic education cur-
riculum.
In its original plea for a TRO,
Tanggol Wika, headed by National
Artist for Literature and University
of the Philippines professor Bien-
venido Lumbrera, said the CHED
order “violates five provisions of
the Constitution,” namely, the pro-
vision on the national language,
Philippine culture, nationalist edu-
cation and labor policy which were
provided for in Article XIV, Section
2 and 3; Article II, Section 18; and
Article XIII, Section 3 of the Con-
stitution.
Tanggol Wika also stressed
the order violated Republic Act
7104 (Organic Act of the Komisyon
sa Wikang Filipino/KWF/Commis-
sion on the Filipino Language),
Republic Act No. 232 (Education
Act of 1982), and Republic Act No.
7356 (Organic Act of the National
Commission on Culture and the
Arts/NCCA).
The group added the CHED
even “usurped” one of the func-
tions of the KWF, which is to for-
mulate a language policy, when it
issued the assailed order.
In its ruling, the SC said the
claim of the petitioners that the
assailed CHED order “removed”
the study of Filipino and Panitikan
from the GE core courses was in-
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
correct, and that, the Constitution-
al provisions on Filipino being the
medium of official communication
and language of instruction are
“non-self-executing” and are “still
subject to provisions of law.”
As to the SC’s explanation
that the changes in the GE cur-
riculum were meant to avoid a du-
plication of subjects already taught
in Grades 1 to 10 and Grades 11
and 12 or senior high school, the
group stressed that tertiary level
Filipino covers topics that are not
taught in basic education Filipino.
Thus, the group said, the
CHED’s claim in the assailed
memorandum that it is necessary
to avoid duplication of Filipino
subjects already taught as part of
the K to 12 curriculum has “no
factual basis.”
Hachero, Malaya)
(A.