Attorney Camille Sue Mae Ting said on Friday that explaining complex Supreme Court decisions in a way that ordinary Filipinos can easily understand is one of the biggest challenges of being the high court’s spokesperson.
Ting, the first female spokesperson of the SC, said her two years in the position have been both challenging and fulfilling particularly because many of the court’s rulings involve technical legal issues and terminology.
“Well, I would say it’s very challenging, but at the same time, very fulfilling,” Ting said in an interview with Bilyonaryo News Channel’s At The Forefront with Atty. Karen Jimeno.
She said one of her main responsibilities is to simplify the often technical language used in SC decisions into explanations that can be understood by a wider audience.
“Many of our decisions are technical. They use legal terms, and it is my job as a spokesperson to simplify this so that more people can understand the Supreme Court’s decisions,” Ting said.
For Ting, making the court’s rulings accessible to the public is important because SC decisions can affect not only the parties in a particular case but also future cases involving similar issues.
She said this is also why the court takes time to carefully deliberate high-profile cases.
“The Supreme Court, the way they decide, especially if it’s a high-profile case, they really deliberate it carefully,” Ting said.
She explained that a ruling does not simply settle a dispute between the parties before the court, it may also guide the resolution of similar cases in the future.
“Because Supreme Court decisions, it is binding in future cases that may come before the Supreme Court, that are similarly situated,” she said.
“It just doesn’t affect the parties now, it could affect future parties as well,” Ting added.
Ting also addressed whether being the SC’s spokesperson means she personally becomes the target of public criticism whenever the high court issues an unpopular decision.
She said that, based on her experience, this has not been the case.
“Based on experience, that hasn’t happened yet, and I’m very happy,” Ting said.
Instead, she said criticism is generally directed at the SC itself.
“But it’s really the court that really bears the brunt,” she said.
Ting acknowledged that the SC cannot satisfy everyone when deciding cases because every ruling inevitably produces a winning and losing side.
“And the court, when they decide, we can’t always please everyone, so there will always be a party that’s on the losing side,” she said.
She said this reality makes the role of the spokesperson especially important in communicating what the Court actually decided and why.
Ting also clarified that she does not receive advance notice about when the SC will release decisions including rulings on high-profile cases.
Asked about the possibility of decisions involving prominent cases coming out on specific timelines, Ting said she has no advance information.
“Actually, Karen, no. I do not get any advance notice for that,” she said.
According to Ting, the court’s collegial nature means cases must undergo careful deliberation before a decision is issued.
She said this is particularly important in high-profile cases because the legal principles established by the SC may have consequences beyond the immediate dispute.
Ting said the court’s objective is to carefully decide cases while observing the constitutionally mandated periods for resolving them.
“As long as the cases are decided within the constitutionally mandated timeline, I guess that’s the Supreme Court’s goal,” she said.#