Chasm between intelligence and wisdom at SC noted

“INTELLIGENCE is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad,” so a saying goes.

I used to think that the two words were somehow synonymous (see Roget’s Thesaurus); or that, at least, with intelligence comes wisdom. But experience has shown that sometimes intelligence shows up alone!

The three Supreme Court members (Justices Antonio Carpio, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Arturo Brion), who sat as members of the Senate Electoral Tribunal and dissented from the majority decision finding Sen. Grace Poe a natural-born Filipino, are without doubt intelligent magistrates. But do they have the wisdom necessary to preside over the lives and fortunes of their fellowmen and the Filipino people?

The essence of justice is the impartial resolution of conflicting claims. Under the American jury system, a juror who has any bias against the person on trial cannot sit in judgment in the indictment. That is “due process”; nay, that’s common sense! No further argument required.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand how even the concept of delicadeza escaped the three justices who refused to inhibit themselves from (and instead are now vigorously imposing their dissent on) the Supreme Court en banc in review of the Poe citizenship issue! Why are they so “atat na atat” to stop her from running for president? If my memory (in an ethics class) still serves me right, that goes against their basic oath to administer justice with impartiality, let alone the elementary rules of fair play. Truly, there could be a chasm between intelligence and wisdom.

—GABRIELLE MICHELLE M. AGUILLERA, [email protected]