How to make SC justices heed Constitution

When the Supreme Court feels threatened, it runs quickly to hide under the skirt of the Constitution like a cry baby! This was what happened when Congress tried to investigate its waste of judicial funds (“House to open probe of judiciary funds,” Front Page, 4/20/15). The Supreme Court invoked the principles of fiscal autonomy and judicial independence enshrined in the Constitution. It refused to compromise its constitutional mandate by participating in that travesty. But when everything is quiet and everyone is asleep, the Supreme Court resumes and continues to make a mockery of the Constitution!

Former Sen. Rene Saguisag agreed with letter-writer Maria Margarita Aytona (“SC party to delaying of cases,” 8/12/15): The Supreme Court is really partly to blame for the snail-paced delivery of justice in this country. We, too, are with her. The Constitution plainly says the Supreme Court must decide cases within two years. But the swollen heads comprising the Court think they are really “supreme” and above the Constitution and can disregard what it says at will! Saguisag himself was at a loss for words: Three years to resolve “a mere motion” (“One SC, without divisions,” Opinion, 8/17/15)? If the US Supreme Court with only nine members can resolve cases faster, why is ours with 15 “brilliant minds” so very, very slow?

The really ridiculous thing is, when speaking of the lower courts, the Supreme Court says the period stated in the Constitution to decide cases is mandatory. They must comply, or else…

But when speaking of itself, well, that constitutional prescription is only directory—meaning, like all traffic rules and regulations in this country, only a “suggestion”! Thus, it is not unusual for that Court to just sit on cases even after five or 10 years! How can they be so callous and uncaring about the anxieties of the parties whose lives may have been put on hold on account of those cases?

Like Aytona, we are also sick and tired of hearing the expression “justice delayed is justice denied” with no one seriously doing anything about it. If only for this reason, we are for Charter change: The Constitution should really be amended so as to make it impossible for the Supreme Court to play around with its provisions as it sees fit. So, aside from ordering that Court to decide cases within two years, it should also provide that failure to do so shall ipso facto mean the automatic resignation of the justices concerned! That should force them to respect the Constitution more!

—CARMELA N. NOBLEJAS, [email protected]