Rappler Talk: Lawyer Cristina Bonoan on the Supreme Court under Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – In a span of 6 years, two Supreme Court (SC) chief justices, Renato Corona and Maria Lourdes Sereno, were ousted. Sereno’s ouster, for one, happened against the backdrop of infighting between members of the bench.

By the end of 2018 alone, the High Court would have gone through 3 leaderships. Teresita de Castro, who replaced Sereno, recently retired, and the Judicial and Bar Council is in the process of drawing up a shortlist for her replacement.

On Tuesday, October 23, Rappler editor-at-large Marites Vitug speaks with lawyer Cristina Bonoan of the Angeles State University to discuss the qualities needed in a chief justice, the problems he or she is expected to face once at the helm, and how the performance of the SC has been under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Bonoan, with Dr Bjorn Dressel of the Australian National University and Dr Tomoo Inoue of Seikei University, authored the pioneering study on the Philippine Supreme Court that tracks the influence of informal factors on the justices’ decision-making. They tracked SC decisions from 1986 to 2015.

By 2022, it is expected that the SC will be filled by Duterte appointees. How will these affect the institution? Join us on Tuesday, 2 pm, for the discussion! – Rappler.com