Justice Romeo F. Barza

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

Justice Romeo F. Barza
Sunday, 01 22, 2006

After 10 years as a trial judge, serving with well enough distinction and without any hint or trace of impropriety, then one must be ripe for elevation to the coveted title of justice of the Appellate Court.

Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Romeo Barza, from Zambales and Davao, is one such trial judge everyone expects to be appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Perlita Tirona in the Court of Appeals (CA).

In this country, a good word or even a simple nod of acquiescence from “godfathers” who are close to people in high places is enough to send one zooming up the bureaucratic hierarchy. But sometimes being closely identified with powerbrokers could be a drawback, as the appointing power is ever wary of critics who rant and rave about the link of an appointee to such powerbrokers — especially so when the appointee turns out to be a bad apple. So the candidate to the position is simply ignored as a matter of playing it safe, and the critics are denied the smug pleasure of saying, “See? I told you so!”

Barza is one judge who has prudently chosen not to use his connections to the law office that everyone refers to in awed whispers as The Firm. Although he was one of its founders and still has amiable and cordial relations with its powerful partners, Barza became a trial judge in 1996 on his own merits. No one pulled strings for him as he made his way up the judicial ladder. The Philippine Judges' Association (PJA) has taken note of this, and feels that its nomination of Barza to that exalted position in the CA is an acknowledgment of Barza’s own merits.

Trial judges, especially those handling big-ticket cases involving intra-corporate controversies, are always the subject of many controversies after they hand out a decision. Invariably, one party feels and is convinced that the judge has been partially sympathetic toward the other. They can’t say that of Barza, however. In the cases he has been handling, there had been no bellyachers among the losers, not a whimper, not a whisper of tainted judgment. This magisterial integrity could perhaps be credited to his childhood upbringing in Lupon, Davao Oriental, in Davao City, and his young manhood at the Ateneo. Credit is also due to his active participation in many Catholic lay organizations. Catch him and his family at Mass at the UP Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice every Sunday morning. This religiosity has not escaped the critical eye of Cardinal Vidal, who has joined the growing number of those endorsing Barza’s nomination.

This prospective appellate justice, a UP College of Law alumnus with post-graduate studies at Harvard, has steered the PJA for the past four years. We have already written about his many accomplishments in this space. The fact that his peers have chosen to retain him as president of the PJA is a testimonial that he did well and good during his previous watch.

It is not anywhere near hyperbole when we say Barza is the honorable justice we should have had since four years ago. His training as a private law practitioner for 20 years, his experience in the Judiciary for 10 years and, concurrently, his participation in seminars, workshops, dialogues here and abroad that kept him updated on the law and trends in the Bar and in the Bench, have all equipped Barza with the many legal accouterments that he can cloak himself with upon his elevation to the CA.

I was at the Makati City RTC last Friday, and I could only marvel at the comparative ease and comfort that trial judges enjoy at the home turf of Barza. Somehow, he had managed to provide the judges of Makati with the best courtroom accommodations, the most technically advanced equipment set in relaxing furnishings and amenities. I would like to think that there is a direct correlation between the cleanliness and elegance of the surroundings of a trial court and the kind of justice it dispenses. The Makati courts are presently dispensing the kind of justice that is the envy of the entire country and which every one expects: swift, impartial and unsullied.

There is a certain philosophical strain in Barza’s judgeship, which hopefully he can carry over to the CA. Some observers call it developmental magistracy, meaning, a certain flash of innovative adventurism within the law. Nowhere has Barza exhibited this developmental streak than in his recent decision involving the use of a hitherto untested technology in the local power sector. Barza found a window in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act that allowed the use of said technology. Ordinarily, a trial judge would not have even considered the technology as relevant to the parameters of the case; but balancing the interests of the country as against the alleged damage to a private litigant, Barza ruled in favor of development.

Barza, the leader of the 1,530 trial judges throughout the country, has developed a refreshing burst of judicial activism among his colleagues. He will bring that trait of leadership when he sits in a collegial body like the CA. So it is safe to say President Arroyo need not worry about what her critics will have to say when she appoints a gem of a justice, when she appoints the Honorable Judge Romeo F. Barza to the CA.

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