2. Editorial, The Elections and the Problem of Good Government.pdf

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extracted text: THE ELECTIONS AND THE PROBLEM OF GOOD GOVERNMENT The co11ce11sus of post election analysi.<; is that the incoming adminfatration won its bid for the people's mandate on the issue of ,qmft and cm·ruptiMI. The party of the united opposition conce11fratcd 11.<; c:impaign strateqy upon a det<u'led 1"mlictme11t of the personal actuatfons that appear to huv" governed the conduct of administration officials iu the discharge of thPir public f1111ctions. 1'//a (•µposition campaigned on the theme that, nnder the Nri<'ionalista admhiistrotio11, public office has been couvertrd to prfrate use, and r e,c;ponsibility u·as accordi11gl?J laid up01i the EJ:ecutive D~;pal'tment. embodied in the of fire and perso11 of the Chief E.l.'ecuti ve. 1'h~ dectorafe crossed party /foes. They i·oted /01· the men ami. womeu whom they deemed deserving of their ti ust. The elections resulted in a preponderance of Nacio11alistas in the lower Honse. T wo Nacionalistas 11•ere voted i11to the Se11ate. And we dare say that the Presidenfdect, as wefl as his nurniny matt', was voted to the executive stewai·dship of the land. on the .~tre11gth of a personal hna:Je which satisfied the people's 1cant for integrity fn · govermnent. The fn··mediate task before th€ incoming administ1-ation is to franslate its canipaign cry for good government into a meaningful, practical an<l enduring political philosophy. In the 'implementation of this ta.~k. the Pre1;;identelect and his official family will labor under an mtspicioYs and heartening beginnh·1g. Beforn them is the eloque•nt lesson of the elections. It is not politically expedient to misuse a.nd misapply the trust that i·nheres in public office: that there is, afte1· all, a promising future 1·n political idealism and the old fashioned virtues. To carry out the domestic and international pol-ic1'es of his administration the Presi'.dent-elect will need the undi-vided support of his varty. He will need the party to insure organizational support ·in the implementation of specific volicy obiect.ives. And he will need volitical astuten~s of the highest degree if he is to secure the cocperation of a Congn~.~s dominated hy a rivaf, partis0tn •lT[Ianiza~.fr>n Nation building 1·s a national respnnsibility which must nmtually be shar€d in the politfoal field, by the Executive and Legislative bran<:he.~ of tlte government. But on one vital uspect of nation building, on the one pledge which dominated the campaign platform. of the President-elect, he and he alone will have to assume the burden of pe1·sonal responsibility. This ·is his pledge to rest-01·e integrity in the runnino of government. Th.1"".s is the immed:iate task before him, for p1incipaUy upon this pledge wns he catapulted to tlu; vower, the glory and the promise of supre11u; politfral power. How the P1·esident-elect will fare on this vital and particular 1nission will depend largely upon his understanding of the nature of the presidential office. His personal honesty constitutes only the starti11g point and. minimum requirement of his mission. From all appearances, however, the President-elect is a man sufficiently aware of the implications and crn1sequences of the Presidenc11. He ha~· pledged himself to the doctri11e of Com11urnd Re.~ponsibUity. While f"hcre i~~ nothing novel a11d original about this doctrine the President-elect, 1.Jy invoking the ,<;um.e, has demonstrated the intdlectuel and m.oral orientation necessu.ry to a faithf1tl discharge of Ms high office. A paper published in the last issu,e of tlte Journal amply showed that the doch"i11e of Command Reswmsibil:if.y is nothiug mo1·e but the responsibilit11 vrescribed by the Constitutiou upon the ])residency for the conduct of the Executive dcvartrnent wh·ich he personifies. This res1J011sibHity flows by necessu,ry im.plication from the Constitutional provision which vests control "o.f all the executive departmen~s, bureaus or offices" in the P1·esident. (Art. Fil, sec. 10 (1) ). Since this provision makes the President the head of ad1m·m:strution, he canuot escape responsibility for the behaviOur and performance of those whom he has designated nnd accepted into his executive fam.il?J. V1·'$wed. in another light, the members of a PrP,S. ident's official family are nothing m01·e but the vroiection (Incl ea:ten.~ion of the ~n·esid.e11.tial personality, and for whose actuations, verformance and behaviour in the dis£ hargc of their publfr dutiP-8 he must accept p1·esidenNal responsibility. The power of control u:h· ich thf' Constitution has vested in the President is a constif.utional function. Because it is a function, it is perforce a duty. And. i.f the Chief Executive Jurs the duty to control all agencies of go·vern"ltient which comprise the E:cecutive Department he cm1 not avoid assuming resp01ieibility for them. Official spokesmen of the NacionaUsta adm,inistration rejected the doctrine of Command Responsibility by la.ughing it off. In this they showed a profound and irrespon8ible i{J1101·1J.nce of a re.11ponsibility '[Jrescribed by the Constitution, and explains a basic cause of their failure f.o proi·ir l~ the notion with an hon.e.(lf. and e.fficient administration. A President ·who would den11 1·esvonsibility for the actuations and behaviour of the members of his executive family cannot, by an equally necessary implication, be ex· peeled to vrovide a climate for sound govermnent. Presidential responsibility is the price exacted by the Constitution from tlwse wlw would aspire to exercise the vast powers. of the Presid:mc11. President.ial powe1· without JJ1"esidential resvonsibility can only mean dictatorship. By enunciating the doctrine of Command Resvousibil·ity the President-elect was merely d~cribi11g a constitututi.onal reality which inheres in the function of the Presidency. By attemvt1·ng to discredit the doctrine, the official spokesmen of the outgoing administration disclosed a re11eali-ng philosophy that may well accou:nt for the kind of admi'ldstration which the people rejected during the last elections. Precisely because the aduations and behaviour of the executive family is a presidential '1·esponsibi!ity, it becO'/n.('R imperati1Jelp necessary for the P1·esident-elect to ap7wi;tt to office only those 1nen and women who 1uill do iu.stice to the ,·esponsibUity imposed by the Constitution upon the P1·esidency. This is the reason why the Presid~nt-elect must not (Continu~d next page) November 30, 1961 LAWYERS \JOURNAL P age 321 CHANGES CAUSED IN GRANTING INFERIOR COURTS CONCURRENT JURISDICTIONS WITH THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE; IN SOME CASES' By Judge DAl\'(IAN L. JIMENEZ*"' Judge Damian Jfownu P rior to the amendment made on the provisions of the Judiciary Law of 1948 by Rep. Act 2613, specificaliy Sections 8G, 87, 88 and 90, questions on the extent of cases which may be taken cognizant of by courts of limited jurisdiction seem less unsettled thun as now obtaining. Howeve1·, though this is not saying that all the conceivable questions on the jurisdiction of such courts havo fully passed judicial interpret."ltivc scrutmy, the fact reffiains, u:1d fact it is that a number of issues raised from without the exp1·css lnnguage cf the Judiciary Act had been iaid bare by decisions of the superior courts.I On August 1, 1959, when Judges of Municipal Courts and Justices of the Peace Courts of the capital o! ' provinces began re-adjusting themselves to the conformity of Rep. Act 2613, jui·isdict[onal issues which mostly are questions of first impression began assei·ting themselves in one form or another. A Fiscal, may for instance, file a case before a court only to be tossed back by the Judge on a claim lhat he is without jurisdiction to t ry it, or, a J udge of an inferior coul't after judgment of conviction in a case appealed" against, transmits the records thereof to thf' Court of First Instanct only to be remanded upon a resol~tion that the appeal pertains to the .Cou1·t of Appeals. These an3 other similar questions arc not infrequent' occurcnces after the amen.latory provisions became effective. Therefore, aware as we are of the motive behind the amendment, an outlook to obviate !rem these sad experiences should be as compelling as the inducement which, by legislative fiat, made the amendment possible. It is to this end that this paper is intended, without assuming that everythinlt' will be solved. Under the Judiciary Reorganization Act or 1948 enact.c-d and marle effective upon its a91>roval on June 17, 1948, t~c jui·isdiction of the justices of the peace and Mu11icipal Courts of chartered cities covers those expressly pr.Jvidcd i11 Sections F6, ':-.7, BS :ind 90 thereof. In addition, f:uch courts have jurisdict:on concurn•ntly with the Cou rts of First Instance and the Supreme Court "over cases affe<..ting amb:is.:adO-,·<>, other' public ministers and ronsuls"2 including, as advanced by some local commentarists. the power of judicial review.3 Section 86 Of Rep. Act 296 or better known as the l.Tudi.!iary l.:tw of !!HS as amended by ReJJ. Act 644, states that justic~ of the peace and judges of municipal courts of chnrtered cities hav< jurisdiction ccnsisting of: (al Ol'iginal jurisdic:;on to try cl'iminal caSC>s in 1Yhi('h lho cffensc charged has been committed within their respective tenitorial jurisdiction; (b) Orig:nal judsdiction in civil actions arisini' in their re~ pective municipalities and cities, and not exclus.ively cog· nizable by the Courts of First Instance; and * Speech delive;·ed at the Convention of City Judg-es held in 2. Concunent original jurisdiction in this class of cases should Baguio City last February 23, 1961. mean the sharing of the Supreme Court with the most inferior •• Judge Jimenez is presently a Judge of the Municipal courts of cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and Court of Quezon City. a position he has held since 1956. Before consuls such that the Supreme Court would have concurrent j uristhe war, he engaged in private practice, holding at the same tim~ diction with the lo\v-cst courts in our jurlicial hierarchy, the ju .. tice the office of the Justice of the Peace of Calauag, Quezon. He sub- of the peace courts. in a petty case involving for instance, the sequently held the positions <if special counsel, deputy fiscal and violation of a munici1ml ordinanC"f. affeeting the parties just mcnassistant fiscal of Quezon City and Manila. The experience and tioned. (Concurring Opipnion, 'Justice Laurel, Schneckenburger vs. training gained by h im in private practice and in the fiscal's office Moran. 63 Phil. p. 267-268) has earned him the appointment to the office he is presently occupy- 3. That lower courts have the power of judicial review is merely ing. A holder of MA, LLB, LLM and DCL degrees, i.Judge J imenez an incident of the power to decid£' actua! oses before the ccurt. 8ince is teaching law, philosophy and social science in the University of the function of adjudication imposes on the court the duty of _ascerSanto Tom.as, Lyceum of the Philippines and the Philippine Col- taining the facts .and :ipplying the law to such facts and since tl~c lege of Crimjnology. constitution where app:;cab\e overrides a statutory provision. exo>cu1. Uy Chin Hua vs, Dinglasan. 47 0.G. 233 (Supplement) No. <:ive o:-der or municipal ordinance, it does foll0w that in deciding 12. After hoiding that destierro though, of long dur:ition than a case before it. a lower court muy have tv annul any legislative n rreslo nta·y<>r is a lighter penalty than the latter, the SuprcmC' or executive act in contravention of the constitutional provision. Court held that the infedor C:'!Urb; have jurisdiction of cases so (Constitution cf the Philippines annotated, 'l'uftada & Fernan<lo, p. J'enalizert saying-: .. Thus there oist:i a ~ap in the law as to which 775) Uncier Section 10. Art. VIII of the Philippine Constitu~i('n, coul't sh<";il t>ave originnl jurisdi~·tion over offenses pcnnli7,ed w;t!': the Supreme Court has the power to declare a law or treaty undc~tierr-0 or hanishme nt. Until the law making' body should fill constitutional. There is hoWcver, nothing in said secti.on from that gap by t:Xpressly providini::- othenvire, the Court must Jo so which it can be concluded that the power to ileclare a law unconsli~rc:~sonable inteq>retation of the existing law.'_ ' _ _ _ _ _ _ tutior.:il belorigs exclusively to the Supre111e Court, this .. :ectiol'I proEDITORJAL . (Conti11'!1('(l from page 321) hesitate to cross party lines in considering the persons idto would reflect his official personality. Virtue 1s never the monopoly of a political party. Nor, for that matter, is vice. The President-elect has every right to demand loyalty lo the announced policies of his administration. But in justice to himself, he cannot afford to demand volitical loualty as <t condition precedent to public service. For he, and not his pa'rty, will beal' the bru.nt of the vublic .<.:crutin11 that will judge the calibre of the men and women he appoints to office. Responsibiht11 is on him. Not on his party. Appointments to executive and admini.stTative vositiuns in the governnient must transcend partisa.n considerations. The onlJJ political expedient criteria are com .. -petence and 1~ntegrity, as the ccitasttophic experience of the cn1tgoiug president has indicated. This is tke .only way by which the President-elect can channel the nation's available intellectu(/l and moral resources of the country ·into public service. This is the only 1l'a?I he can successfully shouhler the burden of presidential responsibility. He fa no longer ju.st the m·esident of a political party. He is now the President of the PhilipPines, to which he owes, by his own choice, ultim.ate and supreme fidelity. LAWY ERS !JOURNAL Ncvemher 30, 1961
Date: 1961
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