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 vs. 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 vs. 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 vs. 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 vs. 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 vs. 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.
-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
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."
-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. L-58639, August
12, 1987

Needless to state, the crime of hazing is shrouded in secrecy. Fraternities and sororities,
especially the Greek organizations, are secretive in nature and their members are
reluctant to give any information regarding initiation rites. The silence is only broken after
someone has been injured so severely that medical attention is required. It is only at this
point that the secret is revealed and the activities become public. Bearing in mind the
concealment of hazing, it is only logical and proper for the prosecution to resort to the
presentation of circumstantial evidence to prove it.

The rules on evidence and precedents to sustain the conviction of an accused through
circumstantial evidence require the existence of the following requisites: (1) there are
more than one circumstance; (2) the inference must be based on proven facts; and (3)
the combination of all circumstances produces a conviction beyond reasonable doubt of
the guilt of the accused. To justify a conviction upon circumstantial evidence, the
combination of circumstances must be such as to leave no reasonable doubt in the mind
as to the criminal liability of the accused. Jurisprudence requires that the circumstances
must be established to form an unbroken chain of events leading to one fair reasonable
conclusion pointing to the accused, to the exclusion of all others, as the author of the
crime.

R.A. No. 8049 is a democratic response to the uproar against hazing. It demonstrates
that there must, and should, be another way of fostering brotherhood, other than through
the culture of violence and suffering. The senseless deaths of these young men shall
never be forgotten, for justice is the spark that lights the candles of their graves.
-Dandy Dungo And Gregorio Sibal, Jr. vs. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 209464,
July 01, 2015