Ex-SC spokesman urges high court: Speak more often on pressing issues

Former Supreme Court spokesperson, and now human rights advocate Atty. Theodore “Ted” Te on Saturday called on the high tribunal to take a stand on pressing issues.

“We have a court that is inscrutable. We have a court that does not say much very often,” Te said in a virtual forum.

“There many cases filed before the court, but it has taken time before the court says something,” he said, referring to petitions filed before the high court against the controversial Anti-Terrorism Law, as well as the ABS-CBN’s petition questioning the government’s order to halt its broadcast operations.

The former SC spokesperson said that the Constitution that is being “stretched” by interpretations, advocacy, policies posed by the government such as a “tokhang” in the name of COVID-19 or house-to-house searches, warrantless arrests in which the police decide for themselves what constitutes a crime.

With this, Te said, “What we need right now is probably for the court to say something more often to allow people to see that this Constitution is not being stretched.”

“The greatest value of the court is its predictability not inscrutability... The people should know where the court will land whenever a question or challenge is brought to the ground,” he said.

Human rights advocate Te noted that the balance of powers set by the Constitution has really been upset now.

“We have a very strong and dominant Executive branch, we have a captured Congress,” Te said, noting that an “inscrutable” judiciary is unsettling for the people.

“We have a court that doesn’t say much, and doesn’t say much often, that to me is something that is quite distressing,” he said. —LBG, GMA News