Chief Justice defends Leonen
CHIEF Justice Diosdado Peralta on Friday defended Justice Marvic Mario Victor Leonen from insinuations that he had been too slow in resolving cases that were assigned to him.
Several justices and judges have questioned Leonen’s competence and were disappointed that the high court has not penalized him.
The judicial officials, who asked for anonymity, conveyed their sentiment to TheManilaTimes, which was the
subject of the paper’s banner story on Friday.
Peralta said each of the court’s magistrates has his own way of resolving cases.
He refused to comment on the judicial officials’ perception that the court is treating Leonen with kid gloves.
Leonen “has his own style. Medyo ( He writes long papers). We have to respect his manner of solving his cases,” Peralta said during a virtual press briefing.
Court records showed that Leonen, the third most senior justice, has 82 pending cases under him, the highest among the court’s 15 members.
He has 37 cases which are ripe for decision but remain unresolved, and another 45 cases waiting for other pleadings to be submitted.
TheTimes sources believe that the Supreme Court must not take Leonen’s inefficiency lightly. They compared Leonen’s situation to the case of Court of Appeals Justice Marilyn Lagura Yap, who was penalized by the high court for failing to dispose of 160 cases when she was a Regional Trial Court judge.
Yap was guilty of gross inefficiency and fined an amount equivalent to one year of her salary.
“It was so unfair to penalize Justice Yap with a one year fine while pampering Justice Leonen who was also sleeping on his job,” one justice told TheTimes.
TheTimes sources said it was ironic that Leonen himself voted during the en banc session to dismiss Yap.
Other justices with pending cases include Peralta who has one aging case and four non-aging cases; Senior Associate Justice Estela PerasBernabe with three non-aging cases; Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa with 15 aging cases and 24 nonaging cases; and Justice Alexander Gesmundo with five aging cases and eight non-aging cases.
The sources said Leonen was very slow in disposing of cases because he was too focused on dissents and reflections rather than the dispositive aspect.