The French phrase Esprit de Corps which literally means spirit of the group is commonly associated with military organizations. It refers to the pride and sense of belongingness of members of that organization and their desire to advance the objectives and ideals of that group.
Often, when the Esprit de Corps of a unit is strong, its morale is also high. For example, in the aftermath of the Marawi City battle, the morale of the Armed Forces was high more so because now, the pay of the members will double come January of 2018.
Esprit de Corps can also be present in civilian organizations in one shape or form. Fraternities for instance can exhibit a high degree of Esprit de Corps when they stick together even in the most adverse situations.
Even people in the same profession often help each other. Physicians normally would not charge doctors’ fee when treating other doctors. They call this professional courtesy. This is the same with lawyers. It is seldom that we see lawyers suing each other.
But with what we are now witnessing in the House of Representatives with regard to the impeachment complaint filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, this may no longer be the case. For one, the person who filed the complaint is a lawyer, an officer of the court and the witnesses against her are Supreme Court justices.
It is an unusual impeachment case. And those Supreme Court Justices both retired and active who are taking turns attacking her are not doing anything to enhance the image of the Supreme Court.
For this, we have former President Noynoy Aquino to thank when he orchestrated the impeachment of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona on flimsy charges. Using the vast powers of the presidency, he saw to it that Corona was convicted and removed from office. That impeachment trial was the first time that we saw a retired justice become a witness for the prosecution.
Now, there are at least four retired and active justices who are discussing in public what goes on inside the chambers of the Supreme Court. For the first time also, the House Committee on Justice appears to be trying Chief Justice Sereno already instead of the Senate. We do not know the reasons for this but it could be because conviction in the Senate is not a done deal. In this current impeachment process, people identified with the previous administration are questioning the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Sereno.
The complaint, according to them, is making a mockery of the Supreme Court and cheapening the impeachment process, the very same reasons that those defending the late Renato Corona used.
But former President Aquino and his people should have thought of that when they impeached and convicted Renato Corona. Now, they are getting a dose of their own medicine.
Sure, this current impeachment process will further erode the already battered reputation of the judicial system but this downward spiral in the reputation of our judiciary has been going on for some time. It used to be that judges were held in very high esteem, more so with the justices of the Supreme Court who were treated like gods in Mount Olympus. This was because those appointed as justices of the Supreme Court were truly learned, wise and upright men and women. There were no questions whatsoever to the choices.
Over time, the search process for men and women to occupy the highest court of the land somehow changed. No longer were the qualities limited to being learned, wise and upright. Other considerations started to creep in. Closeness to the appointing authority became one important factor together with other political considerations like party affiliation. The appointing authority also had to see to it that those appointed will remain loyal even if the appointing official is no longer in office. As this impeachment process grinds and those witnesses continue to bring out the dirt of what goes on in the Supreme Court, we have to wonder what kind of work comes out of that court considering that those people must be hardly talking at all.
I hope those who have not taken sides will be able to arrange some kind of truce among the warring factions. Whatever the outcome of this impeachment complaint, the damage to the judiciary’s reputation will be enormous and will take a long time to heal. Reform is clearly needed to streamline the judiciary and make it more responsive to the needs of the citizenry.
The number of Supreme Court justices is in itself a problem. There may be too many. If the United States with a population of 330 million people have only nine Supreme Court Justices, why do we need 15 justices with only 105 million people?
The selection process also needs to be reformed and the confirmation process returned instead of appointment through the judicial bar council. It is not perfect but a congressional confirmation process is open session by people who are the elected representatives of the citizenry.