Leonen sees transparency in High Court

MANILA -- Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said the Supreme Court is indeed transparent, debunking claims from various groups that the judiciary is operating under secrecy.

In a recent dinner hosted by his fellows at the Columbia Alumni Association of the Philippines, Leonen said the SC official website contains decisions and resolutions including dissenting and separate opinions of justices.

These materials dating back to January 1996 up to January 2013 are made readily available for the public to access and are updated regularly.

Recently, the SC website also put up the summaries of the 15 petitions as well as the audio recordings of the two-day oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Leonen said these materials generated positive feedback from the local online community.

"The Supreme Court is an institution that is under studied," said Leonen. "The institution is actually very transparent."

Leonen also defended the "dignified silence" policy of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who has since shunned media interviews.

"We are better read than heard and I suppose with the Public Information Office then perhaps there will be more ways for us to actually try to communicate (the rulings of the court) with the general public," he said, adding the people should focus on monitoring cases being filed and decided on in the High Court.

Meanwhile, Leonen invited the public not just to look at what the final decision is but check how the justices come up with a decision as a collegial court and study "the quality of the decision that we come out with."

"We are not good justices if we are not readable. Gone should be the days when we have Supreme Court justices who write kilometric sentences," he said.

He added that the Court must also be "grounded," saying its decisions have present and future implications and "pronouncements transcend the term limits of the legislature and the executive."

The SC received a majority trust rating of 53 percent in the poll conducted by Pulse Asia from January 19 to 30 this year. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)