There is nothing wrong...

Written by an honest retired SSS officer

TO THE FILIPINO PEOPLE, KNOW THAT:

1. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court having tens of millions, if not more than a hundred million pesos in his peso and $ bank accounts which he repeatedly did not declare in his SALN over a period of many years. There is no hidden wealth there.

2. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice’s refusal to disclose the amounts of his $ accounts despite the transparency required of government officials- more so of high government officials as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. There is no concealment of wealth there.

3. There is nothing wrong with the fact that the Chief Justice got a TRO from his own Supreme Court so that his own $ accounts with the PSBank will not be divulged to the public. There is no indiscretion, no abuse of authority, nor any attempt at hiding the truth about his wealth there.

4. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court having several condominium units costing tens of millions of pesos, which he repeatedly did not likewise declare in his SALN for many years. There is no concealment of wealth there.

5. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice undervaluing in his SALN some of his properties by several millions of pesos. There is no cheating there.

6. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice accepting financial favors from PAL while a complaint filed by its own employees (FASAP) was being litigated in the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice himself. There is no bribery there.

7. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice putting on the Agenda of the Supreme Court a letter of reconsideration submitted by the lawyer of PAL despite the fact that the case subject of the letter of reconsideration had been decided upon with finality and that appeals on the case “would no longer be entertained by the Court”. That is not because of the favors that the Chief Justice accepted from PAL.

8. There is nothing wrong with the fact that a case decided upon by the Supreme Court with finality in favor of FASAP and with no recourse for reconsideration was actually resurrected and the decision of the Court actually reversed in favor of PAL which is a financial benefactor of the Chief Justice. That is not because of the favors that the Chief Justice accepted from PAL.

9. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice reversing the majority decision of the Supreme Court which required former President GMA to comply with conditions of a TRO prior to the TRO’s effectivity by promulgating the TRO despite non-compliance by GMA with the conditions of the TRO. There is no falsification and misrepresentation there.

10. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice suppressing or preventing the release of copies of dissenting opinions on the TRO issued in favor of GMA. There is no suppression of the right of associate justices to the promulgation of their dissenting opinions there.

11. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court being a midnight appointee, an appointee of one who was no longer allowed by the Constitution to issue such an appointment. The issue of delicadeza and violation of the Constitution are irrelevant and impertinent to the subject.

12. There is nothing wrong with the morality of a Chief Justice who once penned a decision which laid down the principle that technicalities should not be made to prevail over the substantive issues of cases brought before the Supreme Court yet uses all technicalities and trivial issues to prevent the truth in his case from coming out. There is no hypocrisy, there is no insincerity there.

13. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice transgressing standards of honesty and decency when the Supreme Court itself declared (in a decision dismissing a Supreme Court employee for not including in her SALN a market stall which the employee apparently owned) that: employees of the judiciary must be exemplars of the highest standards of honesty in public service (or words to that effect). The requirement of the highest standards of honesty in public service applies only to the lowly employee, the poor rank and file. Standards of honesty certainly do not apply to the Chief Justice.

14. There is nothing wrong with the Chief Justice running to the Supreme Court to stop his own impeachment trial for perceived abuse of discretion by the Impeachment Court despite the fact that the Constitution reposes on the Impeachment Court the sole authority to try impeachment cases and despite the fact that as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he is sworn to honor and respect the provisions of the Constitution. Delicadeza is not an issue there, Delicadeza is irrelevant and impertinent to the subject.

There is no disrespect for the Constitution there.

15. There is nothing wrong with the pro bono engagement of top caliber lawyers as the Chief Justice’s defense team. These lawyers arguably have cases they are handling pending with the Supreme Court and are therefore considered litigants in interest on these cases. The pro bono engagement is not considered acceptance of a gift (in substantial amount) by the Chief Justice in the same manner that financial privileges from PAL which the Chief Justice so willingly received were not gifts from a litigant.

Wherefore all the above considered:

KNOW- that your Chief Justice has not caused embarrassment to the Highest Court of the land and in no way eroded the trust of the people on the Court as a whole and on the individual magistrates as well.

KNOW- that the Chief Justice staying on as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will not put to question the credibility of the Court and the wisdom of its decisions.

KNOW- that the Chief Justice is fit to remain as Chief Justice and can continue on with his doings of the same nature and character as there is absolutely nothing wrong with these mal, mis, and non-feasances over the past many years that he had been an Associate Justice and later as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

KNOW, that the Chief Justice has remained and still remains to be the exemplar of morality and righteousness in public service.

KNOW, that your Chief Justice has remained loyal to the public’s trust by observing and practicing the highest standards of honesty, integrity and transparency.

SO ORDERED.