Disorder in the Court: The ‘Fairest’ Justice Money Can Buy?

Written on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 7:33 am | by Ding G. Gagelonia

It is finally breaking out in the headlines this morning: the alleged back room and  conspiratorial maneuvers reaching up to the very chambers of the Court of Appeals.

Such maneuvers have long been rumored to result in decisions being reversed and moneyed or politically powerful litigants having their way with the justice system in much the same manner ordinary Filipinos are ‘Black Suede’d (with due apologies to Avon) each day by their leaders and the damaged democratic institutions in our country.

This scandal comes just a day after the remark of Mr. Oscar Lopez that “it is as if Marcos had not left,” and that the government’s target “is not really MERALCO but ABS-CBN.”

Coffee shop talk around Manila is describing the statement of Lopez as just short of a declaration of war against President Arroyo who has 20 months left in her term.

The Court of Appeals becoming embroiled in the controversy adds the dimension of how the integrity of judiciary is perceived to have been damaged in recent years over politically-colored appointments and of decisions being written not by judges and justices but by the verr law firms of powerful litigants.

The situation is such that the quality of court decisions has even been described as “the fairest justice money can buy” with the alleged practices reaching all the way up to the Court of Appeals.

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About The Author: Ding G. Gagelonia is a journalist of some 30 years, having worked in both radio and TV news and public affairs since his teens. Ding Gagelonia now writes independently and does corporate communications consulting. He has two kids, Felice and Luis. His journalist blog is at midfield.wordpress.com

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Comments

3 Responses to “Disorder in the Court: The ‘Fairest’ Justice Money Can Buy?”

  1. Mandaragat on July 31st, 2008 7:34 pm

    down with the oligarch!!!

  2. Bencard on August 2nd, 2008 12:36 am

    as long as we have a supreme court that is impervious to bribery and corruption, all is not lost. any court can make erroneous decisions in good faith. no one is infallible. but more than anyone else in the government, it is with judges and justices, i think, where we should apply most stringently the tenet that they must be “beyond reproached like ceasar’s wife”

  3. Paul on August 5th, 2008 6:44 am

    I still have faith in our courts. That is the only remaining bastion of democracy no matter what. The issue of “bribery” in the CA is not far fetched. The Lopezes stand to loose billions of pesos had the CA ruled favorably to GSIS. But again, press releases are not enough. The Puno Court must find the truth in this. Justice may be slow here in the Philippines because of institutional obstacles, but it grinds. It is just an unfortunate fact that people with supposedly high credentials will go up high to the CA just to bribe justices for the furtherance of their profits. Some sick bastards are indeed running the Philippine free market.

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