Lawyers group urges SC to leave JELAC
By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net (Phil. Daily Inquirer, Manila)
First Posted 17:47:00 05/19/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- A lawyers’ group has urged the Supreme Court to reconsider its participation in the newly formed Judicial, Executive, and Legislative Consultative Council (JELAC).
The JELAC has been tasked to identify and resolve problems affecting the rule of law, the budget of the judiciary, its infrastructure requirements, creation of new positions and filling of vacancies, career development program, compensation and security of judicial officials, security of tenure and other related matters.
But the Las Piñas City Bar Association (LPCBA) said joining the JELAC is "not politically and ethically advisable" for the high court.
"The danger of JELAC being manipulated by the executive and/or the legislative to influence the independent mind of the [Supreme Court] en banc is real and alarming," said LPCBA (founder and board consultant) Manuel Laserna.
Laserna said when politicians want to consult with the justices, their technical officers should just sit with the court administrator and chair of the Philippine Judicial Academy.
He expressed concern the JELAC would become a "political and financial trap laid by the executive" to influence the decisions of the high tribunal on a number of pending cases that personally affect the political survival of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her staunchest allies in Congress.
The high court allowed former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri's to invoke "executive privilege" to avoid being compelled to tell the Senate investigat5ion into the scandal-tainted national broadband network deal how Arroyo reacted to his report of an alleged bribe offer from former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.
The Senate has filed a petition asking the high court to reverse its ruling.
Laserna noted that if the justices sit together with partisan politicians in "such mundane endeavors," the integrity and independence of the high court would be jeopardized.
"It is doubtful whether the Constitution and jurisprudence allow the Chief Justice or any Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to perform tasks other than those that may be characterized as judicial in nature as provided in Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution," Laserna pointed out.
John Alliage Morales, contributor
