Joaquin Bernas: SC is final arbiter of law

A veteran constitutionalist on Saturday stressed that when it comes to the interpretation of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the Supreme Court always has the final say. Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ, made the statement in light of a Supreme Court ruling temporarily stopping the Senate – sitting as an impeachment court trying Chief Justice Renato Corona – from opening the chief magistrate's dollar accounts. Bernas is a dean emeritus of the Ateneo Law School and belonged to the 1986 Constitutional Commission that drafted the present Constitution. "In the interpretation of the law, the Supreme Court is the final arbiter," the constitution expert said in an interview on GMA News TV's "Balitanghali." Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago earlier feared that a "constitutional crisis" could arise if ever the Supreme Court intervenes in the impeachment trial, a process created under Article XI (Accountability of Public Officers) of the Constitution. Fears of such a crisis were further fanned when the high court sitting en banc voted (8-5) last Friday to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the impeachment court from opening Corona's dollar accounts. But Bernas argued: "No branch of government is superior over the others. Only the Constitution is superior." He assured the public that the impeachment trial would not result in a constitutional crisis. In response to the SC TRO, impeachment presiding judge and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile himself acknowledged the high court's mandate. "In deference to the Supreme Court, the interpreter of the Constitution and the guardian of our basic rights guarranteed by the Bill of Rights, this chair would suggest and recommend to this impeachment court and the two sides of the case and the panel to take heed," Enrile said. Earlier, the Senate rejected a request from the prosecution to summon four Supreme Court Justices to the impeachment court to testify against Corona. The Senate said that by doing so, the chamber showed respect to the principle of separation of powers among the three branches of government. For his part however, Sen. Francisco Pangilinan maintained that only the Senate can try and decide on impeachment cases. The lawmaker said "errors of the impeachment" can only be "corrected" by the people and not by any "sub-judicial review." — LBG, GMA News