Teresita Leonardo de Castro began yesterday her short stint as the second woman chief justice of the Philippines. A UP Law graduate 1972, she will serve only for a total of 42 days, from Aug. 28, 2018 when she took her oath before the Supreme Court en banc, until Oct. 8, 2018 when she turns 70.
A mix of joy, optimism, and anxiety has greeted Chief de Castro’s ascendancy to being the highest magistrate of the land.
Joy and optimism for four reasons: One, President Duterte seems to have restored the rule of seniority in appointing a chief justice (the President says he never talked to de Castro, does not know her, and that he based his appointment purely on seniority and not exactly on brilliance of the appointee or some other consideration); two, de Castro is eminently qualified to be chief justice; three, her colleagues in the high court welcomed her appointment as CJ (unlike the unlamented Maria Lourdes Sereno whose becoming chief justice despite being the most junior and the least experienced justice was vastly resented by the judiciary, not just in the Supreme Court); and four, finally, the Supreme Court can now move on for greater things after the judicial nightmare that was Sereno.
Why anxiety? For one, De Castro will serve for barely 42 days. Just what a chief of six weeks or three paydays can do?
The judiciary, which the Supreme Court administers, is widely perceived as slow-moving, incompetent and corrupt. Such notoriety partly explains why the Philippines ranks poorly among 190 countries in ease of doing business. There is no rule of law. There is impunity by the high, the mighty, and the lawless.
In the high court itself, some justices are better known as businessmen than jurists. Some know “sociology” better than the law. You know sociology—as in “sosyo”—“sosyo sa negosyo” or a business partner with whom one can cut a deal.
Among the three branches of government, the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary, the judiciary has the lowest trust rating and the highest distrust rating.
In its June 15-21, 2018 survey, Pulse Asia found 61 percent of its respondents had trust in the Senate (not exactly the best Senate in our history), 58 percent in the House of Representatives, and 54 percent in the Supreme Court. In terms of distrust, 6 percent distrust the Senate, a similar 6 percent distrust the House, and 7 percent the Supreme Court.
Distrust in the Supreme Court is highest among the regions, in Metro Manila, 10 percent of respondents (11 for the Senate and 8 for the House in the National Capital Region); among the three main islands, in the Visayas, 9 percent (5 for the Senate and 6 for the House), and among all income classes, in the elite ABC class, 12 percent (11 Senate, 9 House).
Among the four highest officials of the land, then Chief Justice Sereno had the highest distrust rating—35 percent.
President Duterte had a distrust rating of a minuscule 2 percent; then Senate President Koko Pimentel 6 percent, and then House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, 15 percent. Next highest in distrust rating (after Sereno)—Vice President Leni Robredo, with 17 percent.
How come our people trust more the men than their women leaders despite the men being certified SOBs?
How come the best educated, best prepared, most qualified, and most experienced branch of government is the least trusted institution? In this country no one can practice law without finishing law and passing the bar, while you can have a completely illiterate, inveterate dropout and even a certified grafter/womanizer for president, vice president, Senate president, and House speaker.
The answer to this puzzle lies in the slow pace of justice in the Philippines. The Supreme Court itself is the biggest violator of the dictum of “justice delayed is justice denied.”
The Supreme Court has a disposition rate of only 39 percent—5,685 cases out of total case load 14,411pending. That is not enough. Some 6,564 new cases were filed in 2017, outnumbering the cases, 5,685, decided, for a net addition of 879 cases per year. At this pace, the SC cannot clear is caseload of 14,411. SC’s target disposal rate, 5,860 is far less than new cases filed, 6,564 per year, meaning a case could sleep in the court forever. Ideally, a case should average just two and a half years before decision day.
I cannot imagine why a serious lawyer of note would want to be a justice of the SC. Working there is punishment. Case load per justice—476, and rising. Even if a justice were to work every day for 365 days, he would still end up with a backlog of 111 each year. A chief justice makes only P2.8 million a year, regularly.
The Court of Appeals has a disposition rate of 43 percent—14,179 cases out of 32,903 pending. There is some progress here. Some 13,006 new cases were filed, 1,173 cases fewer than those decided.
The Court of Tax Appeals has a disposition rate of 28 percent—502 cases disposed out of 1,786 pending. About 475 new tax cases are filed very year with the CTA.
The Regional Trial Courts have the lowest disposition rate—26 percent, or 229,627 cases decided out of 872,259 pending. The 229,627 decided cases is below the 253,390 cases filed per year.
The Philippines has more than 30,000 lawyers. It also has more than 15,000 laws. Two lawyers per law.
But half of the licensed lawyers do not practice law. Perhaps, out of sense of delicadeza? I mean there are better ways of making money than slowing down the wheels of justice.
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