Sereno assails Duterte’s ‘outright’ rejection of the Constitution amid WPS issues

MANILA, Philippines — Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said Wednesday that President Rodrigo Duterte has himself committed what he assails the CPP-NPA for doing: “destroying institutions that make our journey as a democratic nation possible.”

Sereno noted that amid the issues in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Duterte had rejected the Constitution “outright.”

“Secretary [Salvador] Panelo has downgraded the issue that is being raised against the President’s recent statements — from the President’s outright rejection of the Constitution which is the only source of authority he now wields, to one of a single humanitarian intent of saving lives; from the President’s duty to fortify a nation to one of slippery weaselings out of unconstitutional compromises he has made with a foreign power,” Sereno said in a statement.

Duterte earlier said the provision in the 1987 Constitution on the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is for the “senseless and thoughtless.”

READ: Duterte: EEZ provision in PH Constitution for the ‘senseless, thoughtless’

Moreover, the president added that the Constitution will only be a piece of “toilet paper” if used to assert the country’s rights over the WPS.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo has since explained Duterte’s statements as mere “metaphor”.

READ: Constitution as ‘toilet paper’ is just another Duterte ‘metaphor’ – Palace

“Secretary Panelo speaks of short term compromises that are not founded on law nor any enduring principle to justify the President’s actions. After this incident involving Recto Bank dies down, and when the time comes for President Duterte to pass from the stage of leadership, all we will have is a nation with no moorings,” Sereno said.

“No constitution that will serve as a binding covenant for our society to live in peace safeguarded by the Bill of Rights; no protection against abuses of power; no institution strong enough to defend our people from dictatorship; no large corps of leaders within government who embody excellence and virtue, and who can facilitate the transition to the next set of leaders.

“Instead, we will all have to painfully pick up the pieces of our broken polity,” she added.

Sereno also called for Duterte’s supporters to remind the president of the advantages of the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), adding that to say that the assertion of international laws and the Constitution will lead to war is an admission of the government’s failure to do its mandate.

“We call on all supporters of the President to look to the Constitution as a framework to guarantee our long-term future as a country. We ask those who have his ears to speak to him of legal constraints as the necessary imperatives that will drive him to create solutions without sacrificing the Constitution – the only architectural framework available to unite us despite all our differences,” Sereno said.

“We ask his supporters who believe in law to remind President Duterte that even President Marcos understood the advantages that the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas gave archipelagic states like the Philippines. Otherwise, he will remain on record as the only President who ever repudiated the protection of the UNCLOS,” the former Chief Justice added.

Success of neighboring countries

Sereno said the government should look at the “successes and the continuing successes” of other neighboring countries in protecting their sovereign rights.

“We look to our previous successes and the continuing successes of our Asean neighbors as models of balance between the assertion of sovereign rights and maintenance of friendly relations with China,” Sereno said in a statement.

“None of them ever spoke as desperately as this government does. If this government will not have the courage to do what is necessary, the people will do what they must do,” she added. (Editor: Eden Estopace)