Master of the case

During the House of Representatives justice committee hearing on the impeachment charges against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Nov. 22, Congressman Vicente Veloso—a retired Court of Appeals justice— made quite a revelation about the workings of the appellate court. He categorically admitted that during his CA tenure, any justice assigned to write the decision is “the master of the case.” That practice, he said, is copied from the protocol silently adhered to in the Supreme Court.

So then whatever happened to the supposed “collegiality” in the CA (in divisions of three justices) and the Supreme Court (in divisions of five justices)? Is a case actually left wholly to the discretion (read: whim or caprice in favor of a favored litigant) of a single justice, with the other members of the division just “concurring” blindly with the expectation that they would also be left alone to be the “masters of the cases” assigned to them?

So all that “certification” about the decision being arrived at after deliberation by all members of the division is total nonsense? How can the CA and the SC abide by such insidious practice?  Justice in this country really sucks!

GABRIELLE MICHELLE M. AGUILLERA, [email protected]