Tomorrow is a momentous day for Filipinos. For the first time in our history, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, decides the fate of a head of a co-equal branch of government, the Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines.
Impeachment is never painless. It is a process that our country has to go through to strengthen our weakened institutions, mainstream public accountability and for all of us to love our country and this planet more than life itself.
The past five months of trial culminated with the rather incomprehensible breach of decorum by the respondent in stepping out of the hall, without leave of court, expectantly will end with a decision that is fair, just and acceptable to us, Filipinos, as the ultimate judges.
Will Corona keep his post or will he be ousted?
Whatever the verdict will be, Chief Justice Corona’s life will never be the same, as it is with the people. His date with destiny is ours as well.
The significance of the impeachment was highlighted by the outstanding presiding officer, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who acknowledged in his opening speech that senator-judges and the public “cannot escape the reality that, in a larger sense, the conduct of this trial and its outcome will necessarily have a serious impact on the entire nation. Its success or failure to achieve the purpose for which the Constitution has provided this mechanism as part of our system of checks and balances and of public accountability, may spell the success or failure of our democratic institutions, the strengthening or weakening of our sense of justice as a people, our stability or disintegration as a nation, and the triumph or demise of the rule of law in our land.”
One lesson from the impeachment trial was the realization of the vast powers of the Ombudsman, should the holder choose to exercise it, that is. The nation is most grateful to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for showing us that we can indeed count on the Office for redress of grievances against abusive public officials. This was precisely what the framers of the Constitution intended – that the Ombudsman should be an effective protector of the people and not of the public officials, as in the case of her immediate predecessor.
The impeachment experience should propel public servants to treat themselves and their office with greater respect and dignity and serve our people with utmost sincerity and compassion. May the implications of this trial be not lost on our people upon whose hands lie the sovereign power to choose ethical and competent authorities and most important, to determine our nation’s destiny, armed with the courage and determination to push through, come what may.
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Last week was one filled with pleasant surprises and events, which included meetings with personalities imbued with impeccable integrity. A most unforgettable one was with Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento who shared his learnings from years of dedicated service to our people. He also graciously updated this columnist with what the electoral body has done to protect the right of suffrage of the detainees, persons with disability (PWD) and indigenous cultural communities (ICC)/indigenous peoples (IP).
After instituting the automated electoral system, the Commission on Elections has added another feather to its cap when it integrated social justice in its rule-making power. For so long, the marginalized sectors, with their peculiar needs and requirements, had been sidelined and disenfranchised during registration and election.
Last year, the Comelec issued, after a series of stakeholder consultations, the implementing rules and regulations to protect their right of suffrage of PWD (Resolution No. 9220, May 13, 2011). This year, specifically on March 12, it adopted the rules and regulation for the registration and voting of detainees through Resolution No. 9371, translating the lessons learned from the experience on the Detainee Voting regulation it adopted in connection with the May 10, 2010 national and local elections.
Recently, on May 17, it promulgated Resolution No. 9427 for the registration of ICC/IP’s. By doing so, the State accords to the members of the ICCs, IPs the “rights, protections and privileges enjoyed by the rest of the citizens,” with “due recognition of their distinct characteristics and identity”. This is a strong display of the country’s commitment put forth in the 1987 Constitution, the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, and the international instruments embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other international human rights instruments to which it is a Party.
The regulations are posted in Comelec’s frequently visited and well-managed website, www.comelec.gov.ph. I understand that there are ongoing hearings for the possibility of advanced voting for media persons covering national and local elections. This is certainly another welcome development.
Hopefully, the much-needed sectoral representation in the sanggunian will soon be a reality, once the Comelec issues the pertinent rules and regulations, after public consultations are done. It is an enduring legacy that will help usher in an era of more engaged collaboration between government and the people through the sectors’ direct representatives in the local lawmaking body. The sectoral representatives know the issues at hand. In this complex world of disasters and climate crisis, they are the bridge of the people in making government responsive and effective in the delivery of services. We have seen how Cebu City Councilors Nida Cabrera and Alvin Dizon, as former civil society stalwarts familiar with the issues confronting communities, have successfully made government closer to the people. We certainly need more of them, through direct sectoral representation.
It is a shared optimism that our Comelec officials will continue to be open to reforms for our electoral process and mechanisms to be a reflection of the genuine will of our people.
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Environmental advocates and local communities enthusiastically welcome the decision of Ombudsman Morales to reactivate the Environmental Ombudsman. It is a longed-for move to ensure that our Constitution and environmental laws are respected by the duty-bearers, namely, our local government and national agency officials. The Ombudsman can count on the advocates from the non-government organizations and people’s organizations as well as law schools and the champions from the public and private sector to be their partners in re-instilling the Rule of Law and sustainability in the minds and hearts of each civil servant and citizen.