BAGUIO VIGIL Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno thanks supporters who held a vigil outside the Supreme Court building in Baguio City after the six-hour long oral arguments on the quo warranto petition filed by the Solicitor General to oust the chief justice. INQUIRER file photo / KARLSON LAPNITEN
An activist nun belonging to the Coalition for Justice (CFJ) has expressed dismay over the Senate’s seeming failure to assert its power over the impeachment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
Sr. Mary John Mananzan was among the CFJ leaders and members who trooped to the Senate on Wednesday, urging senators to pass a resolution asking the Supreme Court to suspend the quo warranto proceedings against Sereno.
READ: Senators urged to act on Sereno quo warranto
“Nagtataka ako kung bakit kailangan pa kaming pumunta rito at magtanong sa kanila, gawin nila ito. E kung ako yung inaalisan ng karapatan, hindi ba naturally ako ang magsasabi: Hoy karapatan ko yan. Bakit pa kailangang kaming magsabi sa kanila na please pwede ba i-assert nyo yung rights nyo?” Mananzan said in a joint press conference.
(I’m wondering why we have to go here and tell them what to do. When your rights are being taken away from you, you will naturally say: Hey that’s my rights. Why do we have to tell them to assert their rights?)
“Kaya ako talaga nababagabag ako. Maraming tao ngayon sa ating bansa ang nag gi-give up or nagsu-suspend ng kanilang prisinpyo para lang sila maging on the side of power. Itong power na ito will not last. So papano ngayon kung itinapon mo na yung prinsipyo mo?”
(I’m really bothered. Many people in our country are already giving up their principles just to be on the side of power. This power will not last. So what will happen if you’ve already abandoned your principles?)
Former Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño branded the SC’s reported impending removal of Sereno as an “insult” to the Senate.
“Inuunahan ng Korte Suprema ang Senado sa kanyang tungkulin kaugnay ng impeachment ni Chief Justice Sereno. Ito po ay isang insulto at pagbalewala sa kapangyarihan at tungkulin ng Senado na litisin ang isang impeachable official. Ito po ay paglapastangan sa separation of powers at sa sistema ng checks and balances na itinakda ng ating Konstitusyon,” Casiño said.
(The Supreme Court is moving ahead of the Senate in its duty regarding the impeachment of Chief Justice Sereno. This is an insult and disregard to power and authority of the Senate to try the case of an impeachable official. This is a sacrilege to the separation of power and the system of checks and balances imbued in our Constitution.)
While Congress has always given the SC courtesy on issues under its jurisdiction, the former congressman lamented that the judiciary could not do the same to the legislative branch.
Casiño appealed to senators to use their “persuasive” power to stop the quo warranto petition against Sereno.
“Yan po ang aming apila sa Senado [That is our appeal to the Senate] and we hope that the Senate will be able to persuade the Supreme Court to stop these dangerous moves against our democratic institutions.”
Aside from calling on the Senate to assert its powers, former Akbayan Representative Loretta Anne Rosales also urged the SC to “redeem” itself from the “threat of control by the executive” through Solicitor General Jose Calida, who initiated the petition against the Chief Justice.
“Why are you allowing this? Some of you, why do you allow yourselves to be used and manipulated for very specific self-serving reasons it would seem?” Rosales, who also headed the Commission on Human Rights, asked.
She urged both the Senate and the SC not to allow that democracy would be “raped” once again citing the past experience during the Marcos regime.
“Huwag nating papayagan na magkaroon na naman ng panggagahasa sa demokrasya,” Rosales added.
(Let us not allow the rape of our democracy to happen again.) /jpv