FAVORITE QUOTES FROM SC DECISIONS

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.
Do you have a favorite quote from the decisions of the Supreme Court? Share it
with us at philippinecasedigests@gmail.com, with the subject "SC quote" along
with your name/nickname so that we can acknowledge you.
"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
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

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.

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 ones inner being,
like a piece of meat lodged immovable between teeth.

-Olaguer vs Military Commission, G.R. No. L-54558 May 22, 1987

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."

-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.
-TAADA 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

-Joaquin vs. Javellana [A.M. No. RTJ-00-1601. November 13, 2001]

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. L58639, August 12, 1987