FORMER CHIEF Magistrate of the Ateneo Student Judicial Court (SJC) Generoso Jacinto was called to resign from his position on October 14 by the magistrates of the SJC.

The statement was issued through a post on the SJC’s official Facebook page following issues on transparency and accountability within the court’s internal system. The document outlined a list of infringements Jacinto was held accountable for. According to the statement, Jacinto failed to “align with the missions and principles that the Court wishes to uphold.”

The main issues raised by the petition against Jacinto’s leadership were the overstepping of boundaries as a leader, as stipulated in the SJC’s Code of Internal Procedure, as well as his control of the dissemination of important court documents.

Jacinto has since submitted a letter of resignation from his post as the Chief Magistrate and his magistrate position. The current magistrates have elected Antonio Lagura to serve as Chief Magistrate before the formal election of a Chief Magistrate after the application period for new magistrates.

“It was a difficult decision on his part but the magistrates would like to believe that this was a decision he made for the court,” Lagura said.

In response to this, the Union of Students for the Advancement of Democracy (USAD) released a public statement rejecting any form of “extraconstitutional attempt to demand the removal of a duly elected official of the Sanggunian without respect for the legal processes enshrined in [the] Constitution.”

Internal conflict

According to Lagura, the decision of the magistrates to release the statement came after much internal dialogue among the court’s officials, including Jacinto himself.

It began when Lagura noticed that there were delays in the decisions of petitions and discrepancies between the resolutions and statements being issued and voted on.

“In that regard, we started to notice that there was a lack of communication between our leader and the rest of the magistrates. We wanted to make sure he was aware. [However,] there was a continuing process [of a] lack of transparency and [the] lack of communication which pushed us to take action,” he added.

After a lack of communication between Jacinto and the other officials, Lagura and the other magistrates felt the need to take an immediate course of action by releasing a statement calling for his resignation.

“It was a terrible burden on the court. The only alternative was the impeachment of the former Chief Magistrate [which] would have been much [more] problematic. It would have burdened not only the court but the Central Assembly as well, so it felt like we had to do it,” Lagura explained.

According to Lagura, the statement released was not part of a process for a formal petition but rather a manifestation of what the rest of the magistrates felt needed to be done at the time.

Through discussion with his fellow magistrates, observations of the processes in court and receiving multiple criticisms from multiple sectors, the magistrates knew that there was an internal problem within the court.

Hours after its initial posting, the statement was deleted from their Facebook page.

“We decided to remove it because it would have created an unviewed bias and [Jacinto] would not have been able to respond through an appropriate avenue…perhaps we were not being fair to him by utilizing the page,” Lagura explained.

“We never meant to say that he was incompetent or incapable of the job,” he added.

Jacinto could not be reached for comment on the statements against his leadership as the former Chief Magistrate.

Despite this, Lagura said the magistrates stand by their statement. “Even though we know we did right by the court, we do have a semblance of regret on its effect to former Chief Magistrate Jacinto,” Lagura said.

The magistrates are confident that they have taken a step towards real reform and real change in the SJC. “At the end of the day, we had a duty to the court and we stood by it,” Lagura said.

In place of former Chief Magistrate Jacinto, the magistrates of the court decided to choose an interim Chief Magistrate.

“The court would still require a leader to implement the reforms… We choose to have an interim leader so we won’t deprive the incoming magistrates the chance to decide who their leader will be for the rest of the school year,” he explained.

As interim Chief Magistrate, Lagura will take over the duties of Jacinto. The two have already communicated about the transfer of administrative control over SJC accounts.

Questionable actions

USAD questioned the actions of the magistrates, claiming that it was outside of the Constitution and did not follow due process.

“The lines are set in stone, there is no room for interpretation…The responsibility with regards to trying, investigating and removing a duly appointed official of the Sanggunian is reserved for the Central Assembly,” explained USAD Premier Lanz Espacio.

Now that the statement has been made public, Espacio said that this does not remove the fact that there was a mistake that needs to be investigated and corrected.

USAD acknowledged that the magistrates may have seen enough reason to release a public statement calling for the resignation of former Chief Magistrate Jacinto. However, Espacio called their methods “unconstitutional,” stating that every individual or organization will have to work under the Constitution despite internal problems.

USAD called for the student body to file a petition countering the statement released by the magistrates for Jacinto’s resignation and to call for a formal investigation to be conducted by the Central Assembly, believing this to be a matter that concerns the student body that must be acted on by students themselves.

“When the court itself goes against the very Constitution that they swore to protect and uphold, this is cause for an investigation,” Espacio said.

Resolution and prevention

Currently, the SJC is trying to resolve its internal system to prepare for the upcoming application for new magistrates as well as the appointment of a new Chief Magistrate.

“The transition comes with reforms,” said Lagura.

As part of their reform, the magistrates will focus on transparency and promptness with the court’s decisions and resolutions.

“There are many actions that are exclusive to the Office of the Chief Magistrate, including the power to call for en bancs and other powers which other magistrates cannot override,” Lagura said.

As part of the reform, Lagura, along with the magistrates of the SJC, want each of them to have a say on important decisions on the court.

“If the Chief Magistrate is incapable of calling or attending en bancs, then the rest of the magistrates will have the prerogative to call for these en bancs, so that the court processes will not be stalled, ” he said.

The next step for SJC is to reassert itself as the paragon for accountability and transparency. “As the only court in the Sanggunian, we have to make sure that we uphold this level of integrity that students can rely on,” said Lagura.