The Supreme Court (), colloquially referred to as the (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished the Real Audiencia of Manila, the predecessor of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court compound is located in what was formerly a part of the University of the Philippines Manila campus. It occupies the corner of Padre Faura Street and Taft Avenue in Ermita, Manila, with the main building sited directly in front of Philippine General Hospital's cancer institute.
History Early history Prior to the conquest of Spain, the islands of the Philippines were composed of independent barangays, each of which is a community composed of 30 to 100 families. Typically, a barangay is headed by a datu or a local chief who exercises all functions of government: executive, legislative and judicial; he is also the commander-in-chief in times of war. Each barangay has its own laws. Laws may be oral laws, which are the traditions and customs of the locality handed down from generation to generation, or written laws as promulgated by the datu, who is typically aided by a group of elders. In a confederation of barangays, the laws are promulgated by a superior datu with the aid of the inferior datus.
In a resolution of dispute, the datu acts as a judge while a group of elders sits as a jury. If a dispute is between datus or between members of different barangays, the dispute is settled through arbitration with some other datus or elders, from other barangays, serving as arbiters or mediators. All trials are held publicly. When a datu is in doubt as to who between the parties is guilty, the parties are subject to trial by ordeal, this is a common practice in criminal cases. An accused who was innocent was perceived to be always successful in such ordeals. These pre-Hispanic people believed that the deities or gods would aid the innocent accused to survive the ordeal.
Spanish colonial era In the royal order of August 14, 1569, Miguel López de Legazpi was confirmed as the Governor and Captain-General of the Philippines. He was empowered to administer civil and criminal justice in the islands. Under the same order, Legazpi had original and appellate jurisdiction in all suits and constituted in his person all authority of a department of justice, with complete administrative and governmental control of all judicial offices. In subsequent cédulas and royal orders, it was made the responsibility of all officials to enforce all laws and ordinances issued for the benefits of the locals. This often failed to occur. In a 1584 letter written by Bishop Domingo de Salazar to King Philip II, Bishop Salazar noted different acts of oppression and injustice committed against the native Filipinos and said that the decrees of the King, which were designed to protect them, were generally disregarded by the Governor-General and his subordinates.
As a result of these developments, the first real audiencia (which is the Real Audiencia of Manila) or high court was established in the Philippines through the royal decree of May 5, 1583. The decree stated that "the court is founded in the interests of good government and the administration of justice, with the same authority and preeminence as each of the royal audiencias in the town of Valladolid and the city of Granada. The audiencia was composed of a president, three oidores or auditors, a fiscal or prosecuting attorney, and the necessary auxiliary officials, such as the court's secretaries and clerks. The first president was Governor-Captain General Santiago de Vera.
The Real Audiencia of Manila had a jurisdiction covering Luzon and the rest of the archipelago. It was given an appellate jurisdiction over all civil and criminal cases decided by the governors, alcaldes mayores and other magistrates of the islands. The audiencia may only take cognizance of a civil case in its first instance when, on account of its importance, the amount involved and the dignity of the parties might be tried in a superior court; and of criminal cases which may arise in the place where the audiencia might meet. The decisions of the audiencia in both civil and criminal cases were to be executed without any appeal, except in civil cases were the amount was so large as to justify an appeal to the King; such appeal to the King must be made within one year. All cases were to be decided by a majority vote, and in case of a tie, an advocate was chosen for the determination of the case.
The audiencia would later on be dissolved through the royal cédula of August 9, 1589. The audiencia would later on be reestablished through the royal decree of May 25, 1596, and on May 8, 1598, it had resumed its functions as a high court. By its reestablishment, the audiencia was composed of a president as represented by the governor, four associate justices, prosecuting attorney with the office of protector of the Indians, the assistant prosecuting officers, a reporter, clerk and other officials. By a royal order of March 11, 1776, the audiencia was reorganized; it consisted of the president, a regent, the immediate head of the audiencia, five oidores or associate justices, two assistant prosecuting attorneys, five subordinate officials, and two reporters. It had also been allowed to perform the duties of a probate court in special cases. When the high court is acting as administrative or advisory body, the audiencia acted under the name of real acuerdo. Later on the governor-general was removed as the president of the audiencia and the real acuerdo was abolished by virtue of the royal decree of July 4, 1861. The same royal decree converted the court to a pure judicial body, with its decisions appealable to the Supreme Court of Spain. By the royal decree of October 24, 1870, the audiencia was branched into two chambers; these two branches were later renamed as sala de lo civil and sala de lo criminal by virtue of royal decree of May 23, 1879.
On February 26, 1886, the territorial audiencia of Cebu was established through a royal decree, and covers the jurisdiction of the islands of Cebu, Negros, Panay, Samar, Paragua, Calamianes, Masbate, Ticao, Leyte, Jolo and Balabac, including the smaller and adjacent islands of aforementioned islands. By January 5, 1891, a royal decree had established the territorial audiencias of Manila and Cebu. By virtue of a royal decree, the territorial audiencia in Cebu continued until May 19, 1893, when it ceased to be territorial; its audiencia for criminal cases, however, was retained. From the same royal decree, the audiencia in Vigan was established and covers criminal cases in Luzon and Batanes. These courts decisions are not considered final as they are still appealable to the Audiencia Territorial of Manila and those of the audiencia to the Supreme Court of Spain. These audiencias would still continue to operate even until the outbreak of the Filipino rebellion in 1896.
American invasion era From the start of occupation by United States forces on August 13, 1898, the audiencias of Cebu and Vigan ceased to function; the judges had fled for safety. The following day, Wesley Merritt, the first American Military Governor, ordered the suspension of the territorial jurisdiction of the colonial Real Audiencia of Manila, and of other minor courts in the Philippines. All trials of committed crimes and offenses were transferred to the jurisdiction of the court-martial or military commissions of the United States.
On October 7, 1898, the civil courts throughout the islands, which were constituted under Spanish laws prior to August 13, were permitted to resume their civil jurisdiction, subject to supervision by the American military government. In January 1899, the civil jurisdiction of the audiencia in Manila was suspended. It was restored on May 29, 1899, after it was reestablished as the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands under General Order No. 40. The criminal jurisdiction was also restored to the newly reformed civil high court.
On June 11, 1901, the current Supreme Court was officially established through enactment of Act No. 136, otherwise known as the Judiciary Law of the Second Philippine Commission. The said law reorganized the judicial system and vested the judicial power to the Supreme Court, Courts of First Instance and Justice of the Peace courts. The said law also provided for the early composition of the said High Court, having one chief justice and six associate justices—all appointed by the commission. The Philippine Organic Act of 1902 and the Jones Act of 1916, both passed by the U.S. Congress, ratified the jurisdiction of the courts vested by Act No. 136. The Philippine Organic Act of 1902 further provides that the chief justice of the Supreme Court and its six associate justices shall be appointed by the president of the United States with the consent and advice of the U.S. Senate.
The enactment of the Administrative Code of 1917 made the Supreme Court the highest tribunal. It also increased the total membership of the Supreme Court, having one chief justice and eight associate justices.
Commonwealth period With the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines through the ratification of the 1935 Constitution, the Supreme Court's composition was increased to eleven, with one chief justice and ten associate justices. The 1935 Constitution provided for the independence of the judiciary, the security of tenure of its members, prohibition on diminution of compensation during their term of office, and the method of removal of the justices through impeachment. The Constitution also transferred the rule-making of the legislature to the Supreme Court on the power to promulgate rules concerning pleading, practice, court procedures, and admission to the practice of law.
Japanese occupation era
Within the brief Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the Court remained with no substantial changes in its organizational structure and jurisdiction. However, some acts and outlines of the Court were required to be approved first by the military governor of the Imperial Japanese Force. In 1942, José Abad Santos—the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court—was executed by Japanese troops after refusing to collaborate with the Japanese military government. He was captured on April 11, 1942, in the province of Cebu and was executed on May 7, 1942, in the town of Malabang in Lanao del Sur.
Philippine independence After the end of the Japanese occupation during World War II, Philippines was granted its independence on July 4, 1946, from the United States. The grant of independence was made through the Treaty of Manila of 1946. In the said treaty, it provides that:
In effect of the treaty, the United States Supreme Court ceased to have appellate power to review cases originating from the Philippines after its independence, with exception of those cases pending before the United States Supreme Court filed prior to the country's independence.
On June 17, 1948, the Judiciary Act of 1948 was enacted. The law grouped cases together over which the high court could exercise its exclusive jurisdiction to review on appeal, certiorari, or writ of error.
In 1973, the 1935 Constitution was revised and was replaced by the 1973 Constitution. Under the said Constitution, the membership of the court was increased to its current number, which is fifteen. All members are said to be appointed by the President alone, without consent, approval, or recommendation of a body or officials. The 1973 Constitution also vested in the Supreme Court administrative supervision over all lower courts which heretofore was under the Department of Justice.