Here’s an interesting article on the “frenemy” (friend/rival) relationship between Philippine Supreme Court justices Carpio and Corona, both nominated for the Chief Justice position. Vitug covers this in more depth in her book Shadow of Doubt (which I promise I will review soon).
Category Archives: Philippines
A good reason for judges to sleep late: avoid assassination attempts
Unfortunately, assassination attempts are a very real part of life for Philippine judges. During my work at the Asia Foundation, I heard one judge explain how he had to hire private bodyguards. Here’s a miraculous story from the Philippine Inquirer this morning:
Manila [Regional Trial Court] Branch 26 Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr.’s vehicle, a Honda CRV with plate number 16NCR26, exploded this morning.
Pampilo said it is fortunate that he was a little late in making his way to work this morning.
He usually leaves his house at 6 a.m. due to the distance between his house and the Manila courts.
Judge Pampilo is currently handling a few controversial cases, including the audit of three big oil companies and the case of Silver Flores, who has been accused of killing an activist upon orders of the military. Over 16 judges have been killed since 1999, and the Supreme Court confirmed threats against another 20-30. This is a real problem, but alas it’s unlikely we’ll see any major efforts to improve judges’ security details.
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Filed under Philippines
Buyer’s remorse
Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, just announced his endorsement for Aquino for president. According to the Philippine Inquirer, he doesn’t regret the fact that he swore Arroyo in (in constitutionally questionable circumstances), but does suggest she hasn’t been an ideal president, to say the least. This could be something along the lines of Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama back in 2008 – a high-profile figure who helped the former president disassociates himself and endorses the young rising star.
This raises an interesting question of what prompted Davide to swear Arroyo in for a full term as president back in 2001. Did Davide change his mind over time? Possibly. However, it’s not clear Davide was an Arroyo loyalist even in the early days. He ruled against her administration several times. According to the book Shadow of Doubt, Davide probably only meant to swear her in as acting president, but, he alleges, he got caught up in the moment of EDSA II. The large crowds both inspired and intimidated him. Alas, if he had a bit more nerve, the past 10 years might have been radically different.
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Filed under Philippines, Supreme Court
The Lighter Side: No due process for beauty queen
Every once in a while, legal institutions in Southeast Asia find themselves in bizarre situations. Last month, I blogged about an Indonesian case involving a certain “pornographic” dance. In The Lighter Side, I’ll highlight more of these odd cases – because with all the bad news about the rule of law in the region, we all need a few laughs.
First off: beauty rights abuses. According to Phil Star, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights ruled that a Filipina beauty queen was “dethroned” without due process. I kid you not…
She was “stripped” of her title when pageant organizers alleged she was not a Philippine citizen. However, it appears she is Filipina (through her mother’s side). That’s Due Process for you.
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Filed under Human Rights Commission, Philippines
More courts and elections shenanigans
The Supreme Court of the Philippines issued another controversial decision this week, one that could have important implications for congressional elections. According to Phil Star, presidential candidate Senator Benigno Aquino petitioned the Court to invalidate R.A. 9716, which creates a new congressional district in Camarines Sur. He alleged that one of the districts only had a population of 178,000 people, below the constitutional thresh hold for congressional districts. He also worried that the move was intended to benefit President Arroyo’s son, Rep. Diosdado Ignacio “Dato” Arroyo, and her ally former budget secretary Rolando Andaya, who are expected to win both seats.
The Court rejected Aquino’s by a 9-5 vote. They found that the constitution only requires 250,000 people for cities, not provinces. In fact, Chapter VI, § 5(3) of the Constitution states:
Each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact, and adjacent territory. Each city with a population of at least two hundred fifty thousand, or each province, shall have at least one representative.
At the very least, the drafting is poor and ambiguous. However, it seems that “province” is separated from the 250,000 population requirement. Other politicians have pointed out that the provinces of Batanes, Camiguiin, Siquijor, among others, have less than 250,000 inhabitants, and yet have their own congressional districts.
The significance of this case probably isn’t in the jurisprudence or doctrine – the outcome seems like a reasonable enough interpretation. However, the decision could impact Aquino’s political standing – either striking a blow to his candidacy, or increasing his reputation as the anti-Arroyo (my guess is the latter is more likely).
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Filed under elections, Philippines, Supreme Court
Dominic J. Nardi, Jr. 
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