‘Darkest hour in PH democracy’: Senators slam SC ruling vs Sereno

THUMBS DOWN Protesters mimicking Supreme Court magistrates show their disgust at the way eight SC justices voted in favor of the petition seeking to remove the Chief Justice. —JOAN BONDOC

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Friday invoked the Senate’s exclusive right to try an impeachable official as he called on the Supreme Court to give ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno “the opportunity to file a motion for reconsideration.”

“In impeachment matters, the Supreme Court is not supreme because the Senate is the one and only impeachment court,” Pimentel said in a message to reporters.

Senators from both sides of the political fence on Friday voiced their disagreement over the Supreme Court ruling, but none of the Senate leaders have so far indicated that they would formally contest it, saying that the decision had “mooted” the pending impeachment case against Sereno at the House of Representatives.

“This is not the end of this fight,” Sen. Francis Pangilinan, president of the opposition Liberal Party, said.  “Congress must assert its duty and obligation under the Constitution stating that impeachment is the only way to remove a Chief Justice,” he added.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV described the high court ruling as “the darkest hour in our democracy. The Supreme Court, which is supposed to be the cradle of our fragile Constitution, is the same body that killed it.”

‘People lost without a fight’

Sen. Bam Aquino lamented that “(the SC justices had) removed from the public the right to know the truth and examine the case… Again, the people have lost without a fight,” he said.

“This is a black day for justice and the rule of law,” said Sen. Risa Hontiveros. “By giving its nod to an obviously unconstitutional petition, the high tribunal has surrendered its judicial independence and integrity,” the senator said, adding that the court’s ruling was “a slap on the face of the Senate” and “a direct stab to the heart of our Constitution.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the ruling was a “bad precedent… (that) in effect reduced the powers of both houses of Congress.”

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, a member of the majority coalition, said the Supreme Court had “subvert(ed) the paramount tradition of separation of powers that lies at the very heart of our republican system of government.”

Vote shows ‘divided court’

Administration ally Sen. Sonny Angara suggested that the narrow 8-6 vote on the quo warranto petition could still be subject to change as “it shows a divided court on a very important constitutional issue. This means the ruling may not be a stable one and may be subject to revision going forward.”

The “biggest winners” in the ruling, said Sen. Panfilo Lacson, “are the moronic lawyers who were ready to spread their idiocy in an impeachment trial, which will no longer take place because it’s unlikely that the House will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate.”

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said the Senate had no choice but to respect the Supreme Court decision.  “To do otherwise is to make our personal opinion higher than what we regard as supreme,” he said.

At the House of Representatives, members of the opposition slammed the high court ruling, with Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman saying that a “majority (of the SC) justices committed hara kiri” when it “bludgeon(ed) the independence of the judiciary and desecrat(ed) the sanctity of the Constitution in an improvident quo warranto proceeding.”

Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin described the decision as “a legal tsunami that flattened our justice system.”

Losing faith in SC

Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano said the ruling “destroyed the faith of the people in the Supreme Court and the Constitution.” The justices, he said, had become “instruments for political maneuverings.”

Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice said it was “disheartening” that the Supreme Court majority “played politics (and were) now part of the political circus.”

Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said the decision “will produce a deep crack,” adding that the ruling was  “a self-destructing act.”

Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas described Sereno’s ouster as “the most brazen rape of the judicial branch by a self-confessed tyrant in Philippine history.”

Larry Gadon, the lawyer who filed the controversial impeachment complaint against Sereno, meanwhile, expressed elation at the high court ruling.

“My efforts were not wasted. In fact, it took a shortcut and was sped up. The results are the same,” Gadon said.

Justices turned ‘minions’

In Bacolod City, Bishop Patricio Buzon called on the faithful to join him in praying the rosary on Friday night “for the upholding and preservation of justice in our country,” he said in a text message, adding that the justices had “allowed themselves to become ready minions of an administration that cannot tolerate any opposition… that stands in the way of its pursuit of absolute power and control.”

Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo and Arnel Lapore, president of IBP-Negros Occidental, also maintained that “only the Senate assembled as an impeachment court has the power to dismiss an incumbent justice of the Supreme Court on questions pertaining to his or her alleged lack of integrity.”

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) meanwhile urged judges and lawyers to “step up the protests against the breakdown of the so-called rule of law and the erosion of judicial independence in all legitimate forms and fora possible.”

In a text message, Coco Alcuaz, executive director of Makati Business Club, conceded that although an impeachment process would have at least sustained investor confidence, the Supreme Court remained the  “final arbiter of all constitutional issues.”

‘We need just a spark’

In Baguio City, the Youth Act Now Against Tyranny (Yanat) scheduled an indignation rally on Friday night.

Students and teachers at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) also planned to hold a protest rally on Friday. “(President) Duterte now has control over the three branches of the government,” said Casey Cruz, a representative for the group Unbound.

Sister Mary John Mananzan, cochair of the Office of Women and Gender Concerns of the Association of Major Religious Superiors, described the ruling as  “a blatant insult to us citizens (and) a fight between good and evil.”

Mananzan added:  “Now is the test. If we no longer trust the executive, the legislative and the judiciary, we are the (only) ones left. We will be like an atomic bomb, we will form a critical mass. We need just a spark.” —WITH REPORTS FROM JAYMEE T. GAMIL, JEROME ANING, TONETTE OREJAS, KIMBERLIE QUITASOL, CARLA P. GOMEZ, ALLAN NAWAL, MARICAR CINCO, ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL  AND GABRIEL PABICO LALU