HONG KONG – In pursuit of justice, does the Supreme Court of the Philippines often detour toward favoritism, corruption and political back-scratching? Definitely, yes!

That's the all-too-obvious glum answer from a group of prominent Filipinos and others who gathered recently at Hong Kong’s St John's Cathedral to help launch a new book, Shadow of Doubt, Probing the Supreme Court (2010, Newsbreak) by leading Manila journalist Marites D. Vitug. This is the author's fourth book.

With the top-court judges all chosen by the country's president, loyalty to the appointing power prevails, Vitug said. Lack of transparency about controversial decisions worsens matters.

Outgoing Philippines president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in power for a decade, deliberately placed allies on the Supreme Court. “She needed people who'd say ‘yes’ to her,” Vitug said.

With successor Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino accusing Arroyo of corruption, she even defied a constitutional ban on late-term appointments to install a new chief justice. “On cases about Arroyo's personal interests, like corruption charges, I believe the Supreme Court still will protect her,” Vitug said.

Described as the first book to penetrate secrecy surrounding the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Shadow of Doubt critically examines the court’s inner workings and engages basic human cravings for fairness and justice. “It touches a soft spot in many people’s hearts,” the author said. “They've longed for honesty, justice and change.

“When writing, I was gripped by surprise and disbelief. I didn't idealize the Supreme Court as a perfect place. But I didn't expect it to be so tolerant of men and women seeming to take integrity lightly.”

Wary of sensitive contents, the country's largest publisher backed out of the book project. Then the biggest bookstore chain refused to sell it. “This says a lot about the power of the Supreme Court in the Philippines,” Vitug said. “We still don't have real independent publishing. It hasn't taken root in our society.”

Once the first copies appeared, Vitug received a flurry of threatening text messages. “In the Philippines, when people want to scare you, they text you,” she said. “Mercifully, this died down after a few weeks.”

Worse, a Supreme Court justice filed a 13-count libel suit. “It's the first time a Supreme Court justice has done that to a journalist,” Vitug said. “But shifting political tides may make the prosecutor decide it's not worth pursuing. Otherwise, the bail may be 130,000 pesos. I have that set aside.”

Another prominent Filipina journalist, Sheila Coronel, who teaches at Columbia University in New York, spoke of how people can’t secure justice. “This book shows how corrupt and compromised the justice system is in the Philippines. It shows corruption at the highest levels of the judiciary. The Supreme Court is supposed to be the administrator of the justice system. If you read this book, you can only imagine how badly corruption seeps down into middle and lower levels of the legal system.”

Serious corruption and human-rights violations, even the murders of activists and journalists, happen because the culprits know the legal system lets them “get away” with almost anything. With the legal system willing to look away and Supreme Court justices acting like puppets to the president, the situation resembles that under former dictator Ferdinand Marcos (1965-86).

“Our justice system's unable to provide justice,” said Coronel. “We need to establish a functioning, independent judiciary and the rule of law. One problem in our thinking about democracy in the Philippines is that we always think in terms of individuals, like presidents or members of Congress. We seldom think of strengthening institutions.”

Speakers at the book-launch event agreed on the need for serious, comprehensive reforms. “When the Supreme Court makes a judgment, right or wrong, it becomes the law of the land,” said Filipina lawyer Milabel Cristobal, also the director of Amnesty International Hong Kong.

“I think we're at a crossroads where the judiciary needs to reform. We have a responsibility to push and pressure people in government and the judiciary to be faithful to their mandates…. Without people trusting in the system and believing that justice can be possible, we'll never have a stable society.”

Vitug asked: “How can we make these men and women in robes more accountable? I think it begins with a push for transparency. We need more information out in the open.”