Today marks the end of the Bersamin Court, which reigned over our judiciary from November 28, 2018, up to October 18, 2019. Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin turns 70 years old today, which is the mandatory retirement age of justices of the Supreme Court. PRRD appointed him as the country’s 25th Chief Justice last year. He leaves the Court eight days ahead of Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio who is retiring on October 26, 2019.
The top 2 ranking members of the SC will vacate their posts in the midst of a high-stakes election protest pending before the SC. Until last Tuesday, SC watchers thought that a verdict on the Marcos v Robredo case would be the valedictory decision of CJ Bersamin since it would be his last en banc session. Comments coming from Justice Marvic Leonen and the CJ himself early this week had lifted public expectation of the forthcoming decision. Bersamin’s assurance that there would be no rigging of votes on the case gave the impression that he would leave a personal stamp on the final verdict to be issued. Hence, almost everyone had placed their bets that October 15 would be the D-Day, but instead of resolving the case, the SC deferred ruling on whether to dismiss or proceed with former Sen. Bongbong Marcos’s protest. Now, both Bersamin and Carpio will no longer be around when the Court deliberates on the case again after both parties have submitted their comments as required by the SC. It will be a missed opportunity for both distinguished jurists to provide their cogent opinion on a significant case that undoubtedly will have great impact on our political life. As acknowledged intellectual leaders of the Court, their views will carry great weight within the collegial body, whichever side they take up.
Bersamin has all the makings of a successful jurist. He won the coveted Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos Outstanding RTC Judge in 2002, conferred by the prestigious Foundation for Judicial Excellence. In 2000, then-RTC Judge Bersamin was awarded the distinct honor of having written the Best Decision in Civil Law and the Best Decision in Criminal Law among all RTC judges in the country. Justice Ricardo Puno, the chairman of the CJ Fred Ruiz Castro Memorial Awards Committee, said that winning both awards in the same year and selected by different panels of judges was an unprecedented feat. Another remarkable achievement of Bersamin was his apparent success in improving collegiality in the SC after the divisive term of CJ Maria Lourdes Sereno. While honest differences in opinion still exist, particularly in deciding a case, it’s no longer marked by acrimony and rancor. He was truly a healing Chief Justice.
Bersamin’s term in the SC saw the turbulent years in the SC. Renato Corona was impeached and convicted by Congress and Sereno was ousted via a quo warranto petition alleging that her appointment was void from the beginning due to her failure to comply with the requirements of the JBC. Bersamin joined the majority members of the Court in granting the quo warranto petition against Sereno. Only Justices Carpio, Leonen, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa dissented. Justice Teresita de Castro, who succeeded Sereno, served as the Chief Magistrate for only 43 days, the shortest tenured Chief Justice. These developments paved the way for Bersamin’s ascendancy to the top helm of our judiciary.
Among his decisions while serving as a member of our SC was the humanitarian consideration accorded to plunder defendant Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile because of his advanced age. He also acquitted former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the alleged PCSO scam, which ruling is now being invoked by other plunder defendants to their advantage. He also concurred in the majority decision of the SC allowing the burial of the remains of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. But a jurist should not be judged solely on the basis of how he voted on a particular issue, unless we exactly know the motives and the basis of his decision. On his retirement as Chief Justice of the US SC, Earl Warren said that the Court serves only the public interest and guided solely by the Constitution and the conscience of the individual justice. Bersamin has bid his colleagues goodbye by saying: “I have faithfully served the people, conscientiously discharged my office and dutifully fulfilled their trust” and he admonished them to “be constant in your loyalty to the judiciary…and be steadfast in fealty to the letter and spirit of the Constitution…” Well said, Bersamin, and future Courts will do us a big favor if they take to their hearts your great words.