Separate Opinion
by Isagani A. Cruz
from Philippine Daily Inquirer

THIS being the last Sunday of the year, and still within the Yuletide, I will be less combative and, in the spirit of the season, I shall try to be more filled with joy that the newborn Babe was brought into this troubled world.

I shall begin with the justices of the Supreme Court who supported agile views, and those who opposed them, in the leading case of Eleazar Quinto vs. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 189696, promulgated Dec. 1, 2009.

My special sympathies go to Justice Eduardo Antonio Nachura, who was my companion in teaching Constitutional Law in San Beda College and impressed upon our students that “the highest function of authority is to uphold liberty.” He expressed lessons of freedom and democracy that revealed his stature as a freeman and showed his acumen in the Quinto case.

My inclination is in favor of the dissenter, but you know me as someone who is always for the underdog.

There are justices who are not often wrong not only in their opinions but also in their independence of judgment as manifested in the previous case. They are Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, and Justices Antonio S. Carpio, and Conchita Carpio-Morales. They are scholars of the first caliber who would honor any tribunal in the world for their loyalty to the rule of law…

Read the full story >> God bless the Supreme Court!