The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court heads a co-equal branch of our government. Under our system of separation of powers, the Executive, Legislative and the Judicial branches of government enjoy separate and independent powers. This tripartite model prevents the concentration of power in one authority by providing for checks and balances among the three branches.
With the designation of former Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin as the Executive Secretary, it would be interesting how a person previously vested with equal power will conduct himself as the chief alter ego of the President. Of course, the new office that CJ Bersamin now occupies is the greatest repository of executive power. While he is just one of the cabinet members, the Executive Secretary is the “first among equals” because of the immense trust and responsibility that the President reposes in him. Thus, it’s no accident that the Executive Secretary is referred to as the “Little President.” Interestingly, the former Chief Magistrate is now the “Little President.” But that’s not odd. In the US, William Howard Taft, the country’s 27th President, became the 10th Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court after serving out his term as President. Taft gained prominence when he served as the first civilian Governor of the Philippine Islands in 1901. He was well loved by the Filipinos that a major thoroughfare in Manila, Taft Avenue, was named after him.
It is not uncommon for a former Chief Justice to be appointed to another public office after serving the judiciary. CJ Bersamin himself was earlier named Chairman of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2020 shortly after he retired as Chief Magistrate. The practice was started by Jose Yulo who served in the Senate after the war following his tenure as the Chief Justice during the Japanese occupation. Later, he served as the Secretary of Justice under President Ferdinand E. Marcos. CJ Querube Makalintal served as the Speaker of the Interim Batasang Pambansa after he retired from the highest court. CJ Marcelo Fernan was elected Senator and later chosen by his peers as their Senate President. Others held prominent positions in the government like CJ Manuel Moran and CJ Hilario Davide who both held ambassadorial posts. CJ Roberto Concepcion resigned from his post a couple of months before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 to show his displeasure over the High Court’s decision affirming the validity of the ratification of the 1973 Constitution. After the EDSA revolution, CJ Concepcion joined the 1986 Constitutional Commission to help in drafting our new charter. The saga of CJ Fred Ruiz Castro was different. CJ Ruiz Castro was the first Executive Secretary of President Ramon Magsaysay until he was appointed to the judiciary in 1956 and eventually became the CJ in 1976.
CJ Bersamin hails from a prominent political family in his native province of Abra. His grandfather, Don Longino Bersamin served as mayor of Bangued for several terms before and after the 2nd World War. His father, Luis, served as Governor of Abra. Luis’s wife and CJ’s grandmother, Rosario Valera Purugganan, also belonged to a powerful political family. Rosario’s father, Eustaquio Purugganan was a former Governor of Abra. A half brother of Rosario was former Senate President and Speaker of the House Quintin Paredes, one of the brilliant lawyers produced by our country. His brother Eustaquio was elected Governor of Abra a couple of times, and his brother Luis, Jr. served as a Representative of Abra. Luis was assassinated outside Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City while attending a wedding in 2006. Up to now the same clans who are related by blood or marriages—Valera, Bersamin, Bernos and Luna —are still lording it over politically across the province.
CJ Bersamin finished law at the University of the East and placed No. 9 in the 1973 Bar Examination. After a successful practice of law, he joined the judiciary. He was appointed as Regional Trial Court judge by President Cory Aquino in 1986. While a trial court judge, he won the Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos Award in 2002 for writing the best decisions in both civil law and criminal law in 2000. That was a rare feat that merited Judge Bersamin a promotion to the Court of Appeals in 2003, courtesy of President Gloria M. Arroyo. In 2009, shortly before she stepped down from the presidency, President Arroyo named Bersamin as Associate Justice of the SC. When CJ Teresita L. de Castro retired, President Rodrigo R. Duterte appointed him as our country’s 25th Chief Justice on November 26, 2018, bypassing Justices Antonio Carpio and Diosdado Peralta who were more senior than him.
The wealth of experience and breadth of erudition of a former CJ highly qualify him for any position in government. Some had expressed the view that the position of an Executive Secretary is a demotion to a former CJ, and occupying a highly politicized position subservient to the President has compromised the respect accorded to the office of the Chief Justice. We should distinguish the office from the officeholder. It is the former that brings honor to the position and not the other way around. From a lowly trial court judge to the lofty office of the Chief Justice, Bersamin has honored his position. You may disagree with some of his decisions but nobody can accuse Bersamin of abusing and debasing his position as a member of the bench. We have to respect and salute CJ Bersamin for accepting the post. Whatever position is given him, even if it were beneath his status, CJ Bersamin should be lauded for his daring and willingness to take up the challenge to serve his country.
John Quincy Adams, the 6th US President, after he lost his reelection bid, ran and served as a representative of his state of Massachusetts for 17 years until his death in 1848. President Arroyo replicated that locally when she was elected as Representative of Pampanga after she ended her presidency. She was even elected as the Speaker of the House. A position is immaterial if you want to serve our people. The Office of the Executive Secretary is a highly sensitive and critical position in government. As the chief alter ego of President BBM, and one who comes from the same region and speaks the same language, CJ Bersamin can very well discharge the functions of his office. In his new task, CJ Bersamin is not supposed to oppose or fiscalize the administration. He serves well in his office if he loyally serves his President to help him achieve the program of government designed to promote the interests and welfare of the Filipinos. No one doubts that he is equal to the task. As our respected political analyst, former Dean of Ateneo School of government and an acknowledged environmental law expert, Tony La Viña, has said: CJ Bersamin enjoys the trust and confidence of the President and with his experience as a jurist and his political background, he is “a perfect choice for the job.”