The 'Reyes Battle’ as a Medium for Populist Advocacy
by Allan Nadate
The Judiciary has been insulted and it is not doing anything about it. This is the declaration of University of the Philippines Professor Dante Gatmaytan in his Professorial Lecture at the College of Law, House Rules: The Rule of Law after Reyes v. COMELEC. Described as “crazy”, the en banc resolution promulgated more than three months ago immediately drew the flak of Congress. The Belmonte House refuses to honor the Court’s decision. There is a “stalemate” and the Cassandra press foments the mood of imminent constitutional crisis. The rule of law, the judicial supremacy of the court of last resort is in question. The Court is pilloried — its province, duty and constitutional sphere affirmed in Angara, Abueva v. Wood, Endencia v. David, Marcos v. Manglapus, In Re Laureta, so overtly disputed. The contentions, however, of Congress seem irrational, if not dangerous. Rufus Rodriguez, who once stated that “if we defy the Supreme Court, we have destroyed the rule of law in this country,” had backtracked to announce Reyes as “ridiculous”.
How can we explain this apparent incoherence in some members of Congress, who we can assume have at least an idea of the separation of powers and judicial supremacy of the Supreme Court in terms of interpreting the Constitution and the laws? How can the election, or non-election thereof, of one relatively-unknown Congresswoman from a nondescript district cause so much mess? How can Regina Ongsiako Reyes pronounce such whirlwind statement that she will impeach Justice Velasco, father to the same Velasco she contended for the seat with, for allegedly influencing the bench despite having recused himself? An elephant in the room or a tempest in a teacup, the 'Reyes Battle’ is at best, an ill-thought of fight and at worst (or maybe at best still), a publicity stunt. If a proper party so prays, jurisdiction would still eventually come to the Supreme Court regardless if it was the Commission of Elections or the House of Representative Electoral Tribunal who decided to hear the complaint.
Nadate's paper may be read in full in this LINK from Academia.edu
