Next Philippine Chief Justice Won't Be Corrupt

By Jelly F. Musico

Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano urged on Friday the Aquino administration to capitalize on the gains achieved by the Corona impeachment trial by striving to set a higher standard of transparency and accountability with the selection of a new chief justice whose integrity is beyond reproach. 

"The trial of Chief Justice (Renato) Corona is already over but the campaign for a higher standard of transparency and accountability in the government has only just begun," he said.

The senator urged government officials, members of civil societies and the stakeholders in the judiciary to sustain the momentum for major reforms in government as he emphasized that people's active participation is the key to real check and balance in government.

"As a nation, we should learn from the lessons and experiences we've shared during the impeachment trial in our continuing struggle not only to rid the system of graft and corruption that has become endemic in our society but to achieve equality in the eyes of law," he said.

The minority leader pointed out that the first step in achieving this goal is for the nation to urge President Benigno S. Aquino III to appoint a well-respected chief justice who enjoys high moral ascendancy in the judiciary and the legal profession.

"The chief justice stands for the foremost government institution tasked with the duty of upholding justice in the land. He or she should be seen as a personification of justice itself," he said.

Meanwhile, he reiterated his call to the President to require his appointees to sign waivers allowing their bank accounts to be placed under scrutiny if an official investigation involving the public servant warrants it.

"In the spirit of transparency and accountability, this process should be made the protocol in all government offices. Our search for truth and accountability must not be derailed simply because bank accounts cannot be scrutinized," he said.

He pointed out that the impeachment trial should serve as the starting point for the government to begin working on reforms needed by the judiciary.

"We need to eradicate the cancer in our society – different standards of justice for the poor and rich. What applies to the poor must also apply to the rich. Everyone must follow the rule of law, if not then none at all," he said.