BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Is it ethical for court employees to receive ripe mangoes from an appreciative litigant?
Is it proper for a judge to engage in sports activities with lawyers whom he or she has been friends with for years?
These questions were posed before the magistrates of the Supreme Court (SC) during the fifth leg of the Ethics Consultative Caravan, known as the Ethics Caravan.
The Code of Conduct for court employees generally prohibits the acceptance of gifts, favors, or benefits from litigants.
These include even small or seemingly harmless gifts that can create the impression that the legal process might be compromised or that the litigant expects preferential treatment in return.
In the interest of maintaining public trust in the justice system, court officials and employees should decline such offers and politely explain the ethical constraints that prevent them from accepting gifts.
Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, the chairperson of both the SC Sub-Committee for the Review of the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel and the Review of the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary, recently shared a light moment with the participants of the Ethics Caravan at the Notre Dame of Dadiangas University in General Santos City.
Justice Singh told the participants that the Supreme Court wants to emphasize to judges and court employees that ethics “is always a matter of choice.”
“Everything is a matter of choice for you. When we speak about ethical behavior, that is what it is all about. It’s always a matter of choice. You will never be placed in a position where you have to do something against your will. You always have the last say,” Justice Singh told the court employees.
Justice Singh stressed that the judges have “the most exacting job” and reminded them that ethics means always making the correct choice whenever they are confronted with a gray area.
She said that the thrust of the Court’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) was to address this by making everything transparent and showing the public that they can hold everyone in the Judiciary accountable. The twin Codes, she stressed, are all about accountability.
Singh also emphasized that the Ethics Caravan’s advantage is that the input of all participants in all segments will be collated and evaluated for consideration by the Supreme Court En Banc before it approves the final version of the twin Codes.
Similar to the previous legs of the Ethics Caravan, there were discussions on the responsible use of social media, which is included in several provisions of the proposed Canon on Propriety.
Trial court judges and court employees engaged in an open dialogue with the SC Sub-Committee for the Review of the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel and the SC Sub-Committee for the Review of the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary.
The proposed New Code of Conduct for Court Personnel was presented by Assistant Court Administrator Lilian C. Barribal-Co, Presiding Judge Anjanette Nicolas De Leon-Ortile, Judge Anne Beatrice G. Aguana-Balmaceda, Judge Juris D. Dilinila-Callanta, and Judge Antonio Ray A. Ortiguera. They presented the proposed Canons on Independence; Propriety; Impartiality and Equality; Competence and Diligence; and Accountability, respectively.
The other Members of the Sub-Committee for the Review of the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel also in attendance were Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Marie Cristine Azcarraga-Jacob, Judge Bernard P. Bernal, Atty. Rene Enciso, Mr. Erwin Ocson, Mr. Edmund De Javing, Mr. Amiel De Vera, and Mr. Adelberto Juan.
The final leg of the Ethics Caravan for the proposed new Codes will be held in Manila in November 2024. The Ethics Consultative Caravan is supported by the European Union through the Governance in Justice (GOJUST) II Programme./PN
