"Duterte cannot control judiciary to arrest Trillanes"

President Rodrigo Duterte cannot interfere with the decisions of the judiciary on pushing for the arrest of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. Former Senator Rene Saguisag made this remark on Friday, as he underscored the separation of powers between the three branches of government – executive, legislative, and judiciary.

SOURCE: Duterte can’t meddle with judiciary — Saguisag; 10:00 PM, September 28, 2018; Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1037339/duterte-cant-meddle-with-judiciary-saguisag#ixzz5SdoPnC2V
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SEPARATION OF POWERS: The separation of powers is a fundamental principle in our system of government. It obtains not through express provision but by actual division in our Constitution. Each department of the government has exclusive cognizance of matters within its jurisdiction, and is supreme within its own sphere. But it does not follow from the fact that the three powers are to be kept separate and distinct that the Constitution intended them to be absolutely unrestrained and independent of each other. The Constitution has provided for an elaborate system of checks and balances to secure coordination in the workings of the various departments of the government. x x x And the judiciary in turn, with the Supreme Court as the final arbiter, effectively checks the other departments in the exercise of its power to determine the law, and hence to declare executive and legislative acts void if violative of the Constitution.

The concept of the independence of the three branches of government, on the other hand, extends from the notion that the powers of government must be divided to avoid concentration of these powers in any one branch; the division, it is hoped, would avoid any single branch from lording its power over the other branches or the citizenry. To achieve this purpose, the divided power must be wielded by co-equal branches of government that are equally capable of independent action in exercising their respective mandates; lack of independence would result in the inability of one branch of government to check the arbitrary or self-interest assertions of another or others. (A.M. No. 11-7-10-SC; July 31, 2012)