By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News
Published March 12, 2021 12:51pm
Updated March 12, 2021 3:18pm Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas Bernabe said Friday she agrees with the position of Ombudsman Samuel Martires that asset statements could be weaponized against government officials. Bernabe, who aspires to become the next chief justice, told the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) that releasing a summary of the justice’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) would be enough to promote transparency. “I have really nothing to hide. It’s just that sometimes people tend to criticize or to find ways and means to really destroy the reputation of a justice,” she said when asked by JBC member and retired SC justice Noel Tijam whether she was in favor of publishing the SALNs of the justices provided it conforms to the requirements of the data privacy law.
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You Are Here:Home → 2021 → February → 1 → How the Supreme Court decided on key public interest issues
How the Supreme Court decided on key public interest issues
By BULATLAT STAFF
An independent judiciary is integral in a democratic society. After the ouster of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos, the framers of the 1987 Philippine Constitution included provisions guarding freedoms fought for by those who resisted the former dictator.
While safeguards against another tyrannical rule have been inserted in the highest law of the land, administrations after Marcos attempted to cling on to power. Even as the Constitution explicitly states the civilian authority is supreme over the military, succeeding administrations still resorted to militarist approach in dealing with social injustices. Some of the Martial Law era doctrines have remained, and are being used against critics and ordinary folk.
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You Are Here:Home → 2021 → January → 30 → SPECIAL REPORT | All eyes on Supreme Court justices as they hear petitioners vs Anti-Terror Law
SPECIAL REPORT | All eyes on Supreme Court justices as they hear petitioners vs Anti-Terror Law
Illustration by DEE AYROSO
On February 2, the 15 justices of the Supreme Court will hear the oral arguments on the much-contested Anti-Terror Law.
The law is a priority of President Rodrigo Duterte, the reason why it was earmarked as urgent in Congress, and being fast-tracked, took only less than a year to be signed into law.
It was introduced in the Senate on September 30, 2019 and in the House of Representatives on May 30, 2020. It was signed into law July 3 with its Implementing Rules and Regulations approved on October 14 of last year.