Transcript of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago's Interview

31 January 2007

On the appointment of Solicitor General Eduardo Nachura as associate justice of the Supreme Court:

It’s natural. There has been many precedence in the past, and he is qualified and competent. He is an outsider, so in effect, the President is serving notice that she does not feel bound by the “insider rule” that both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals would like to insist upon. There is no basis for the so-called “insider rule.” Gusto nila kapag may bakante, manggagaling lamang sa kanila. Nachura, as you know is an outsider. He is not, for example, a justice of the Court of Appeals.

On the appointment of Atty. Agnes Devanadera as new Solicitor General:

This means that her scope of jurisdiction will be expanded from civil cases to criminal cases, and, particularly, constitutional cases. So she assumes much more responsibility, because her expertise is limited only to corporate or administrative law. She will now have to assume greater responsibility because she has to have knowledge of criminal procedure, plus constitutional law.

(My advise to Atty. Devanadera is to) read my books, because they are updated. Since many of the members of the legal profession in our country are still going by rote, and they have not realized that jurisprudence is moving so fast. The case law is so high even for the appellate courts, that much of the jurisprudence has changed since they have been in college.

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Transcript of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago's Interview

5 February 2007

On actors aspiring to be politicians

I am against any candidate who does not have at least a college degree. Number one, it is truly democratic if we allow just anybody without any academic credentials to run. But, a public official occupies a political status higher than that of a mere voter. Therefore his qualification should be higher as well. It should not be the case that anyone who can vote can be voted for. We should divide the power to vote from the power to run for public office. Because experience has shown that unless the person has by inclination or by training, been educated on the legislative process, the laws he produce will not redound to the benefit of the country.

Number two, there is glaring discrepancy between the ordinary rank and file and the elective officials. In the ordinary rank and file, even the lowest position of clerk requires that the candidate has passed the civil service exam. In the case of the members of the PNP, you cannot become a policeman unless you have a college degree. So why is a college degree required to an ordinary cop on the beat, but is not required to a president who will run the country for the next six years, or on the Senate who will help in the running of the country.

So we have to address the question of equal protection. All public officials, whether elected or appointed, should be required to possess more or less the same credentials. If policemen who are appointed are required to be college graduates, then, anyone who is elective should also be required to have college degrees. I have a solution for the problem of those who are already established actors: maybe we could provide that they should undergo a six-month intensive training course in the College of Business Administration in the best schools in the country, like UP, Ateneo, or La Salle. Education should be a definitive constitutional requirement.

I find from personal experience with my friends, the Senators that come from show business, that not withstanding that I am willing to give them the presumption of honesty and efficiency in terms of hard work, there is really a deficiency in the qualification of competence, because that is not a question of willpower or a desire to be competent. It has to be result not only of the aptitude for the subject, but also of intense education on the subject of public administration, law, or politics. Even if they distinguish themselves in other fields if they have not studied law and public policy, they will not be able to make a significant contribution. And the result will be that they will depend very heavily on either their consultant or their staff, but these are non accountable because people don’t even know their faces, and we cannot hold them accountable.

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