CJ aspirant Amado Valdez: Let's not overdo live JBC interviews

Chief justice aspirant and University of the East Law dean Amado Valdez on Thursday said while he appreciated it, he hoped the Judicial and Bar Council would not make it a habit to allow the live broadcast of their public interviews of people vying for judicial posts.

 

"We should not overdo the telecast public interviews," Valdez said on the third day of the JBC public interviews of the 20 candidates for the chief justice post.

 

"Suffice it to say, the public has a window [to get to know the candidates better through these interviews]. But next time around, there might come a point that the public might trivialize."

 

Valdez admitted that he himself has refrained from watching the public interviews.

 

"I said, please don't allow me to watch anymore because my answers might not be original anymore," he said, eliciting laughter from people inside the Division Room of the Supreme Court.

 

He said he only tried watching the interviews once—that of first interviewee and Presidential Commission on Good Government chairman Andres Bautista—then he decided to stop. 

 

"I wanted to answer from the heart," he said, explaining he did not want to be influenced by the answers of the other nominees who have come before him.

 

Asked what his judicial philosophy was, Valdez referred to a phrase that appears on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States as well as on the back of the US one-dollar bill.

 

"Novus ordo seclorum. New order of the ages. That captures our yearning for new order, a vision for a better Philippines and it can start with the judiciary," Valdez said.

 

He said he wanted to institute a "triangle approach" in government, in which the government aims for economic development and human enhancements through the rule of law.

 

"For the first 20 years, our focus is economic development, and the judiciary will be helping through rule of law," he said.

 

'Unconstitutional' exorbitant legal fees  

Meanwhile, Valdez's opinion that exorbitant legal fees was "unconstitutional" was met with some clarifications from JBC ex officio chairman and Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta.

 

Peralta said removing legal fees would cripple the judiciary since these fees are the source of the money used in the Judiciary Development Fund and special allowances for justices. 

 

In response, Valdez clarified that he was merely "musing" when he branded legal fees as "unconstitutional." 

 

Valdez clarified that he is not necessarily pushing for the abolition of legal fees but "[its system] has to be revisited. The SC has to take it upon itself to review this and make it more consistent with the people's aspirations."

 

Morality

 

In discussing morality, Valdez also alluded to the controversial Supreme Court-issued temporary restraining order that could have allowed former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to leave the Philippines amid a string of charges.

 

"A judge is always confronted with a moral choice when he makes a moral decision... put that in the situation of the chief justice. Do you have to order the TRO or not? That's just not a legal question. That is a moral question that has something to do with responsibility and accountability," he said.

 

If chosen as chief justice, Valdez said he was willing to refrain from making his opinions public, even if that would mean he would have to give up his radio program.

 

"My advocacy involves sharing my opinion and that should not be the opinion of the court. You are now a walking representative of the court," Valdez said.

 

On the Hacienda Luisita issue, Valdez said the government should pay its owners, the Cojuangco family, a just compensation that is "reasonable but does not affect the coffers of government."

 

"The parties have to go to the table and compute how much reward the owners received and appeal to their patriotism," Valdez said.

 

Valdez also said the government should conduct an inventory of the farmer-beneficiaries to find out who are still committed to tilling the land and who have "reinvented" themselves by abandoning farming altogether.

 

The high court earlier ruled that the Cojuangcos are entitled to just compensation based on real property rates in 1989.

 

Valdez opposed the idea of allowing foreigners to practice law in the Philippines, insisting that should be allowed only in "reciprocity basis" or allowing a foreigner so long as his country allows Filipinos to do the same in his country.

 

"But we have to be reciprocal with other countries in equal basis," he added. –KG, GMA News