Robredo urges Filipinos: Defend what remains of democracy

Vice President Leni Robredo. SCREENGRAB FROM YOUTUBE

As former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s fate was finally sealed, Vice President Leni Robredo urged Filipinos to defend what remains of the country’s democracy.

Robredo issued the statement on Tuesday after the Supreme Court (SC) voted 8-6 to declare Sereno’s ouster as Chief Justice as permanent.

Sereno was ousted through a quo warranto proceeding sought by Solicitor General Jose Calida.

Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte publicly declared her as his enemy after she accused the Chief Executive of having a hand in the quo warranto case. Duterte also urged his allies in Congress to fast-track an impeachment case against her.

Duterte denied any involvement in the filing of the quo warranto petition.

READ: SC rejects Sereno ouster appeal

The finalization of Sereno’s ouster was “indeed a dark moment for our republic and all of us who aspire for the rule of law,” Robredo said.

The vice president said that Filipinos must find within themselves “an unquenchable fire of resolve” during this “darkest of days.”

“We must stand firm for a nation where [the] law is an instrument for achieving fairness and justice, and not a weapon for justifying spite and legitimizing oppression,” Robredo said.

“We must commit ourselves to defend what remains of our democracy, and to rebuild what has been cast down. We will remember today. And in that remembrance, we will find the strength to fight on,” she said.

An outraged public, Robredo lamented, may feel that “justice is well and truly dead, with the Constitution nonchalantly cast aside by those who should have been its foremost guardians.”

“But in our rage and grief, we cannot give in to despair, for this is but one of the many battles that we must fight for our democracy, and for the people, it is intended to serve,” she stressed. /cbb