Chief Justice urges business to share wealth with the poor
By REY G. PANALIGAN
Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban said yesterday there is nothing wrong for businessmen to earn more, but they should be able to share their wealth to the needy and the hungry.
For the judiciary under his leadership, Panganiban said the courts will be constantly attuned for them to respond timely and prudently to the needs of the people, particularly the impoverished.
Panganiban assumed the post of Chief Justice on Dec. 21, 2005. He is set to retire at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 6, 2006 as he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Addressing yesterday’s joint meeting of the country’s business associations and those from
"I dare say to you, ladies and gentlemen of big business, that the only justification for accumulating enormous wealth is the zeal and the ability to distribute it wisely to the needy and the hungry."
The joint meeting was attended by the officers and members of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), the Makati Business Club (MBC), the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce (FFCCC), and the Japanese and European Chambers of Commerce.
Panganiban said that when he assumed as Chief Justice, he set his goals to achieve a reformed judiciary and a revitalized legal profession – a vision directed towards safeguarding the liberty and nurturing the prosperity of the people.
"The safeguarding of liberty is a given for the judiciary, but the nurturing of prosperity is new – something even seasoned jurists and lawyers may not at all understand as a judicial imperative," he said.
He said that in cases involving liberty, "the scales of justice should weigh heavily against the government and in favor of the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the dispossessed and the weak."
However, Panganiban said that in conflicts affecting policies on prosperity and development, deference must be accorded to the political branches of government – the President and Congress.
He pointed out that as a rule, courts will not pass upon the merits or wisdom of economic policies, for these matters have been left by the people to the President and Congress to evaluate and decide. But, he said, the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, will not hesitate to strike down government contracts that violate the Constitution and the laws or otherwise been entered into with grave abuse of discretion.
"I should emphasize that the judiciary takes a more liberal view on private agreements, in which the subject matter is strictly commercial transaction. Here, neither the law nor the courts will extricate a party from an unwise or undesirable contract he or she entered into with all the required formalities and with full awareness of its consequences," he said.
Explaining his advocacy for not only liberty but prosperity of the Filipino people, Panganiban cited several recent developments, among them: The provision in the 1987 Constitution that mandates a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income, and wealth… and presaging prosperity as a veritable economic right of the people.
Worldwide call to pay attention to the abysmal gap between the rich and the impoverished, and suggestions of ingenious solutions to economic deprivation and want.
The world’s most important development institutions like the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank have learned over the years that business grows under the rule of law, and that a well-functioning judicial system is must for economic growth and development.
The increasing awareness and continuous generosity of big Filipino businessmen to help their less fortunate countrymen by minimizing poverty and helping the people help themselves.
"These four developments – among the many others – convince me that political liberty, the clarion call of the past, must be continuously safeguarded. However, I am equally persuaded that the prosperity of our people requires as much nurturing in the present century as that accorded to liberty in the past," Panganiban said.
Rallying the leaders and the members of the country’s business community, he said: "May I ask all of you to join me in tirelessly searching and fearlessly espousing both jobs and justice, food and freedom, investment and integrity, economics and ethics, development and democracy; in short, liberty and prosperity."
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