Roque says Justice Carpio “politicking” on West PHL Sea issue; tells him to resign, run for public office instead

(Eagle News) – Former presidential spokesperson and human rights lawyer Harry Roque accused Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio of “politicking” because of his repeated talks and comments on the West Philippine Sea that are critical of President Rodrigo Duterte.

For Roque, Carpio should just resign and run for public office if he would continue to comment on the issue, saying this was in violation of the Canons of Judicial Ethics which advises judges and justices not to make public commentaries on issues that could be brought to their respective courts.

Bakit naman itong si Justice Carpio, ang dami-daming sinasabi samantalang nakaupo pang mahistrado? Yung mga nagsasalitang ganito dapat pulitiko po yan, mga policy makers,” Roque said in a forum on Monday, July 15.

Siguro po dapat munang magbitiw si Justice Carpio, tumakbo, sa Senado Kongreso, President bago siya magsasalita nang ganito (Maybe Justice Carpio should resign first, and run for Senate, Congress or even the presidency, before he talks like this),” he noted.




Roque observed that Carpio’s actions are not proper considering he is a senior associate justice of the Supreme Court where government actions and policies connected to the West Philippine Sea could be brought for judicial deliberation anytime.

-Roque: Carpio violating Canons of Judicial Ethics-

He said this is why court justices are advised by the Canons of Judicial Ethics to refrain from making public comments on such issues or from engaging in partisan politics.

Ang usapin ng WPS (West Philippine Sea) maaaring iakyat sa Korte Suprema kung saan ay kasalukuyang nakaupong mahistrado si Justice Carpio (The issue of WPS could be raised anytime to the Supreme Court where Justice Carpio is sitting as a magistrate),” the former presidential spokesperson stressed.

Ito po ay labag sa Canons of Judicial Ethics. Bakit? Dahil itong issue pong ito ay puede pong madala sa Supreme Court. At kahit na anumang kasunduan na pinasok ni President, pupuwedeng makwestyon sa Korte Suprema (This is against the Canons of Judicial Ethics.  Why? Because this issue could be raised before the Supreme Court.  And any agreement entered into by the President could be questioned before the Supreme Court) ,” he said.

Kaya nga po sa Canons of Judicial Ethics, e sinasabi na dapat ang mga mahistrado ay dapat na magsalita lamang sa pamamagitan ng kanilang mga desisyon (This is why in the Canons of Judicial Ethics, it is said there that magistrates should only talk through their written decisions in court),” Roque said.

He also pointed our that in reality, most of Carpio’s suggestions to the Philippine government on how to resolve problems in the West Philippine Sea were either “impossible” or were already being done by President Duterte.

Roque then advised Carpio to think of the implications of his actions.

“My last point of appeal sana naman isipin ni Justice Carpio, yung implication ng ginagawa niya. Kung lahat ng mahistrado po ay mag-e-engage sa partisan politics, mawawala na po ng saysay ang ating rule of law (I hope Justice Justice Carpio would think of the implications of his actions. If all magistrates will engage in partisan politics, the rule of law would be brought to naught),” he said.

“We appreciate his nationalism, we appreciate his love of country, but we do not understand why he thinks he’s the only one capable of nationalism and love of country.”

“Meanwhile..there is a bigger policy issue – dapat bang namumulitika ang mga mahistrado? (Should magistrates engage in politicking?) I submit hindi dapat po. (They should not),” he added.