Davide Shakes Up Judiciary

Filipino Monitor

Thursday, December 24, 1998

Commentary - The Second Cup

By JESUS C. SISON

SOME judges must now be trembling with fear and uncertainty after Chief Justice Hilarion Davide, Jr. pledged to purge the judiciary of "dishonesty, corruption, immorality, incompetence and inefficiency." Naturally, the honest and hardworking judges don't have a thing to worry about. They will be promoted.

If the seat of government is transferred from Metro Manila, many problems will arise. Where do we transfer the capital site? How do we transfer the thousands of houses of government employees? What will the government do with the housing facilities that will be left in Metro Manila area? How many billions of pesos will be needed to construct government buildings and their facilities? In the same manner, how will the government finance housing projects for the government workers in the new site?

Senators Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. and Gregorio Honasan filed Senate Resolution 319 urging the government to conduct a feasibility study on the possible transfer of the capital site. They have to find solutions to the problems regarding the transfer of the seat of government.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora wants a review of the compensation system for government employees. He mentioned the need to develop a system of accountability to distinguish hard-working employees from non-performers. The present Civil Service evaluation system rules that a single "poor" rating is cause for immediate termination, while a "fair" rating is cause for conditional retention. It seems stricter enforcement of CSC rules will adequately respond to this new call for accountability in government.

The Estrada administration has set the conditions to providing bridge financing for Philippine Airlines (PAL). PAL's continued operation must be commercially viable; private banks and strategic partners will be involved, and the rehabilitation plan must be approved by PAL creditors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to presidential spokesman Jerry Barican, the President is confident these conditions will be met. This appears to signal the administration's commitment to help maintain PAL's operations.

The administration has turned a deaf ear to customs brokers who denounced harassment and extortion at NAIA. An official Palace statement judged the custom brokers' rally as "trial by publicity" while customs officials were praised for "efficiently discharging their duties and functions." The public is now left wondering as to what happened to the usual process of hearing and verifying complaints.

It seems that businessman Lucio Tan has become the flavor of the month. A P341-million damage suit was filed against Tan and 31 other tobacco companies. This time, the charge against Tan is for manufacturing cigarettes. I think it's a crazy suit. Tan may be manufacturing cigarettes but he is not telling the people to smoke. I think the filing of the case is foolish because nobody told the people to smoke cigarettes. Actually, the responsibility lies in the cigarette smoker himself.

Ms. Elsie Reyes, the widow of a cancer victim who had been smoking for 30 years, filed the case against Lucio Tan and 31 local cigarette manufacturers. I used to smoke 14 to 16 sticks of cigarettes a day since 1945 when the Philippines was liberated by the American forces in World War II. I smoked for 40 years from 1945 to 1985. Nobody told me to smoke and nobody told me to stop smoking.