PLJ volume 37 number 1 -01- Deogracias Eufemio

Standing at the apex of the judicial hierarchy of courts, the
Supreme Court plays a great role, which carries with it a great
responsibility,in the growing life of the nation. The Supre'meCourt,
as the custodian of the "inner consciousnessof the people," serves
as a stabilizing ·institut~balancing the ingrained desires for permanence
and continuity in the legal order and the crying need for
progressive change. Consideringthe historic role of an independent
judiciary, it behooves upon the Supreme Court, in the adjudication
of cases brought before it, to insist upon a dispassionate discussion
of legal issues, and to resist the heedless pressures of popular hysteria
and the shifting winds of passing majorities. Indeed, judicial
judgment must take deep account of the day before yesterday
in order that yesterday may not paralyze today, and it must take
account of what it decrees for today in order that today may not
paralyze tomorrow. 166 For it cannot be denied that "the power
peremptorily to define the Constitution is what makes the work of
the Supreme Court of such consequence. It is not going too far to
say that because of it, the Court is unique among contemporary
governmental institutions. To it alone, in the last analysis, is assigned
the function of guarding the ark of the Constitution." 161
M.aythe Light of Reason and Righteousness eternally shine and forever
guide our Justices of the Supreme Court to the end that they may
blaze the trails in the vast fields of the Philippine Constitution with cautious
promptness ,and legal certainty.
•••Frankfurter, F., The Procell. of Judging in the Supreme Court in THE SUPREME COURT:
VIBWS FIlOIl INSIDE 34 (Westin ed. 1961).
1ft SCHwARTZ. THE SUPRE)lE COURT 6 (1967).