Corona lashes back at SC critics

Chief Justice Renato Corona on Wednesday lashed back at the critics who have been berating the Supreme Court for ordering the recall of its supposedly final ruling declaring the retrenchment of over 1,400 flight attendants of the Philippine Airlines as illegal. “Before you attack the Supreme Court, you should study the case first," Corona told reporters at the sideline of the 37th Philippine Business Conference and Expo at the Manila Hotel. “Some people say so many things against the court even if they don’t obviously understand the case." Corona refused to further discuss the recall order, saying it was already explained by SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez. The SC en banc, in a two-page resolution issued on Oct. 4, recalled a ruling favoring the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) after PAL lawyer Estelito Mendoza questioned the decision rendered by the court's Second Division. In explaining the decision, Marquez said a special division, and not the court’s Second Division, should have handled the second motion for reconsideration filed by PAL. This explanation, however, failed to satisfy some senators, who chided the high tribunal for allegedly flip-flopping on the case. Meanwhile, lawyer Ramon Esguerra, general counsel of the 40,000-strong Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), defended the Supreme Court as he denounced what he considered as unwarranted if not premature attack on the tribunal. “On the face of it what we are concerned about is that the criticism is not yet ripe to be hurled. We are making a call for sobriety. We should remember the SC in its resolution is merely recalling and not reversing a decision," Esguerra said. — KBK, GMA News