A thought for all in impeachment times

In the bewildering meanderings of the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, the search for truth has been and is being derailed for one reason or another. As a result, the attainment of real justice, of which truth is the handmaiden, still seems to be a distant (if devoutly to be wished) goal. Given this situation, perhaps, this is a most opportune time to reflect upon and be guided by the wise teachings of the Talmud, the collection of Jewish law and tradition, which has its roots in the Mosaic law. After all, the Ten Commandments, or the “Ten Utterances” as the Talmud calls it, are the fountainhead of the world’s two great legal systems, the civil law and the common law, and animates the Koran itself.

Among the major preoccupations of the Talmud is the triumph of justice, truth and peace in all areas of Jewish social and political life, the very ideal which all judicial, quasi-judicial and administrative proceedings also seek to attain. Thus: “By three things is the world sustained: by justice, by truth and by peace.” So goes a thought-provoking maxim in the Talmud. In other words, the three pillars that preserve, underpin and uphold the world are justice, truth and peace. The Talmud comments on this maxim thus: “The three are really one: if justice is done, truth is vindicated and peace results.”

Another doctrine based on this maxim: “Do not despise justice, since it is one of the three feet of the world; and take care not to pervert justice, for by so doing, you shake the world.”

Still, another rabbinical comment says: “The sword comes into the world for the delay of justice, and for the perversion of justice and on account of the offense of those who interpret the Torah (or the Law), not according to its true sense.”

How injustice ruins the happiness of the community is strongly stressed in this passage: “If you see a generation afflicted with many troubles, go and scrutinize the judges of Israel because all the adversities which come upon the world are only due to the judges of Israel.”

Not too far from the venue for the ongoing Senate impeachment trial at Roxas Boulevard is the Department of Justice at Padre Faura, where I used to work. Emblazoned upon the façade of the DOJ building are these words: “JUSTITIA PAX OPUS.” It is the Latin version for the Talmudic maxim afore-quoted, now distilled in Isaiah 32:17, as: “And the effect of righteousness will be peace; and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.”

—RENATO C. DACUDAO, retired Court of Appeals justice, Pall Mall Street, East Fairview, Quezon City