Behold our Supreme Court Quotable Quotes. This page features our favorite quotes from Supreme Court Decisions. We hope that you'll enjoy the wisdom that can be found in our jurisprudence.
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"If the two eventually fell in love, despite the disparity in their ages and academic levels, this only lends substance to the truism that the heart has reasons of its own which reason does not know."
-CHUA-QUA vs. CLAVE, G.R. No. 49549 August 30, 1990
This is blog admin's all-time favorite quote :)
"Social justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government of measures calculated to ensure economic stability of all the component elements of society, through the maintenance of a proper economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all governments on the time-honored principle of salus populi est supremo lex."
-CALALANG vs. WILLIAMS, G.R. No. 47800. December 2, 1940
The Court feels that it is not enough to simply invoke the right to quality education as a guarantee of the Constitution: one must show that he is entitled to it because of his preparation and promise.
-DepEd vs. SAN DIEGO, G.R. No. 89572 December 21, 1989
Retirement laws should be interpreted liberally in favor of the retiree because their intention is to provide for his sustenance, and hopefully even comfort, when he no longer has the stamina to continue earning his livelihood. After devoting the best years of his life to the public service, he deserves the appreciation of a grateful government as best concretely expressed in a generous retirement gratuity commensurate with the value and length of his services. That generosity is the least he should expect now that his work is done and his youth is gone. Even as he feels the weariness in his bones and glimpses the approach of the lengthening shadows, he should be able to luxuriate in the thought that he did his task well, and was rewarded for it.
-Santiago v. COA, G.R. No. 92284, July 12, 1991;
cited in Bengzon v. Drilon, G.R. No. 103524 April 15, 1992
Statistics never lie, but lovers often do, quipped a sage. This sad truth has unsettled many a love transformed into matrimony. Any sort of deception between spouses, no matter the gravity, is always disquieting.
-Antonio v. Reyes, G.R. No. 155800, March 10, 2006
Marital union is a two-way process. An expressive interest in each other's feelings at a time it is needed by the other can go a long way in deepening the marital relationship. Marriage is definitely not for children but for two consenting adults who view the relationship with love amor gignit amorem, respect, sacrifice and a continuing commitment to compromise, conscious of its value as a sublime social institution.
-Chi Ming Tsoi v. Court of Appeals and Gina Lao- Tsoi,
GR No. 119190, January 16, 1997
GR No. 119190, January 16, 1997
Love happens to everyone. It is dubbed to be boundless as it goes beyond the expectations people tagged with it. In love, “age does matter.” People love in order to be secure that one will share his/her life with another and that he/she will not die alone. Individuals who are in love had the power to let love grow or let love die – it is a choice one had to face when love is not the love he/she expected.
-Padilla-Rumbaua v. Rumbaua, G.R. No. 166738, August 14, 2009
We cannot castigate a man for seeking out the partner of his dreams, for marriage is a sacred and perpetual bond which should be entered into because of love, not for any other reason.
-Figueroa v. Barranco, Jr., SBC Case No. 519, July 31, 1997
The nuptial vows which solemnly intone the matrimonial promise of love ‘(f)or better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part,’ are sometimes easier said than done, for many a marital union figuratively ends on the reefs of matrimonial shoals. In the case now before us for appellate review, the marriage literally ended under circumstances which the criminal law, disdainful of romanticism, bluntly calls the felony of parricide.
-People of the Philippines vs. Ruben Takbobo, GR No. 102984, 30 June 1993
The Court, like all well-meaning persons, has no desire to dash romantic fancies, yet in the exercise of its duty, is all too willing when necessary to raise the wall that tears Pyramus and Thisbe asunder.
-Concerned Employee vs. Glenda Espiritu Mayor, AM No. P-02-1564, 23 November 2004
In our criminal justice system, what is important is, not whether the court entertains doubts about the innocence of the accused since an open mind is willing to explore all possibilities, but whether it entertains a reasonable, lingering doubt as to his guilt. For, it would be a serious mistake to send an innocent man to jail where such kind of doubt hangs on to one’s inner being, like a piece of meat lodged immovable between teeth.
-Lejano vs. People/People vs. Webb, G.R. No. 176389/G.R. No. 176864, Dec. 14, 2010
The relation at the bar to the courts is a peculiar and intimate relationship. The bar is an attache of the courts. The quality of justice dispensed by the courts depends in no small degree upon the integrity of its bar. An unfaithful bar may easily bring scandal and reproach to the administration of justice and bring the courts themselves into disrepute.
- cited in In Re: ALBINO CUNANAN, ET AL., March 18, 1954
The days of the secret laws and the unpublished decrees are over. This is once again an open society, with all the acts of the government subject to public scrutiny and available always to public cognizance. This has to be so if our country is to remain democratic, with sovereignty residing in the people and all government authority emanating from them.
-TAÑADA vs TUVERA, G.R. No. L-63915 December 29, 1986
Certainly, the rule of stare decisis is entitled to respect because stability in jurisprudence is desirable. Nonetheless, reverence for precedent, simply as precedent, cannot prevail when constitutionalism and the public interest demand otherwise. Thus, a doctrine which should be abandoned or modified should be abandoned or modified accordingly. After all, more important than anything else is that this Court should be right.
-Olaguer vs Military Commission, G.R. No. L-54558 May 22, 1987
-Joaquin vs. Javellana [A.M. No. RTJ-00-1601. November 13, 2001]
Hence, a judge's official conduct and his behavior in the
performance of judicial duties should be free from the appearance of
impropriety and must be beyond reproach.
One who occupies an exalted position in the administration of justice
must pay a high price for the honor bestowed upon him, for his private as well
as his official conduct must at all times be free from the appearance of
impropriety. Because appearance
is as important as reality in the performance of judicial functions, like
Caesar's wife, a judge must not only be pure but also beyond suspicion. A judge has the duty to not only render a
just and impartial decision, but also render it in such a manner as to be free
from any suspicion as to its fairness and impartiality, and also as to the
judge's integrity.
"It is obvious, therefore, that while judges should possess
proficiency in law in order that they can competently construe and enforce the
law, it is more important that they should act and behave in such a manner that
the parties before them should have confidence in their impartiality."
We take this opportunity to reaffirm
our concern for the lowly worker who, often at the mercy of his
employers, must look up to the law for his protection. Fittingly, that
law regards him with tenderness and even favor and always with faith and
hope in his capacity to help in shaping the nation's future. It is
error to take him for granted. He deserves our abiding respect. How
society treats him will determine whether the knife in his hands shall
be a caring tool for beauty and progress or an angry weapon of defiance
and revenge. The choice is obvious, of course. If we cherish him as we
should, we must resolve to lighten "the weight of centuries" of
exploitation and disdain that bends his back but does not bow his head.
-Cebu Royal Plant vs. The Honorable Deputy Minister of Labor, G.R. No. L-58639, August 12, 1987
