Constitution in Peril

May 11, 1992 was a memorable date for the Philippines because it was the first synchronized national and local elections under the 1987 Constitution. Although unable to vote - I was a few days shy of turning 18 then - I was involved in the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPC-RV). I was stationed at Lakan Dula High School along Juan Street. As far as Gagalangin was concerned, the elections were peaceful. The following month, Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada were inaugurated as President and Vice President respectively.

The Constitution has been the guiding principle of our land. Such framework is necessary for a nation to thrive. A few months before the 1992 elections, the Senate has rejected the Philippine-US Bases Agreement in spite of Cory Aquino's campaign to have it approved. The Upper Chamber has done so because it has been empowered by the Constitution as the sole treaty-ratifying body (Article VII Section 21). The Charter also empowers the Senate as the sole impeachment trial court for officials such as president, vice president, chief justice, ombudsman, etc (Article XI sections 2 and 3).

May 11, 2018 was a day of infamy for our country because, on a vote of 8-6,  the Supreme Court has booted out one of its members - Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno - on a quo warranto petition against her by the Solicitor General. This, in utter ignorance of what the Constitution has stipulated. It is a shame that the Supreme Court - the last resort of Mang Juan de la Cruz - has gone to this unconstitutional route because of bad blood against a neophyte colleague who was chosen over them as chief magistrate. It felt like the majority of justices behaved like kids who don't want a newbie to join in their circle. That weak spot became a way for the administration to get rid of its nemesis and gain control of what should be an independent and co-equal branch of government. No need for Martial Law, right?

Six of those justices who voted against Chief Justice Sereno were asked by her to recuse from the hearing because of their obvious bias (Accuser and judge at the same time? What is that?). Strangely, these men and woman in robes didn't yield to the request. Have they done the honorable thing, according to Professor Winnie Monsod, "[the] quo warranto petition would be in the trash can now, where it belongs."

Indeed, a precedent has been created because of this ghastly ruling: any judge or other constitutional official can be ousted though a quo warranto petition. No need for an impeachment trial, isn't it? This breeds a sycophant culture in government where no one will have the balls to defy the powers-that-be. This puts off our youth from serving the public through the government. This reduces government as a domain of the few than a forum for all.

I find it strange that the Senate, through its President, only made a statement hours after the ruling was made. They should have made noise about this earlier on. What remains to be seen is if Congress will proceed with the impeachment of Mrs Sereno or not.

I don't know what the next May 11 of the years to come would bring, but I hope it would be something good for the country. For now, let these events be a lesson for all. Left to our own devices (and that includes the grudges we nurse or our loyalties to so and so), there would be mayhem. But with the Constitution we have order. Hence, it has to be upheld. The Supreme Court failed to do so. It's high time to unite and fight!

Dominic and Thomas

The Order of Preachers (a.k.a. Dominicans) is celebrating its 800^th anniversary this year.  In Santo Domingo Church (Quezon City), the Jubilee celebration was launched in November last year by Cardinal Chito Tagle.  I received almost all of my education from the Dominicans – Nursery (a.k.a. Playhouse) to Grade 3: Angelicum School (now College), Grade 6 to 4th year High School: Letran, Manila, and BSc Chemistry: UST. After obtaining my degree, I worked in UST for almost 6 years.  I am also affiliated with the Rosary Confraternity which is also under the Order’s care. My Lola Piling once encouraged me to become a Dominican priest, but unfortunately I do not have a calling to become a Domini canes (hounds of the Lord).

A few months back, I answered a quiz on “Which Dominican Saint Are You Most Like?” (https://churchpop.com/2015/11/08/quiz-which-dominican-saint-are-you-most-like/) . At the end of the quiz, I was expecting that I would be most like St Thomas Aquinas, doctor of the Church and patron of UST, but my answers revealed me to be like St Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Order.  I am happy with that because without St Dominic, there’ll be no Dominican Order and there’ll be no jubilee to celebrate.

For me, both saints were great men of mercy. When Spain experienced a famine, the young Dominic gave away his possessions to feed the hungry. "Would you have me study off these dead skins, when men are dying of hunger?", he asked his fellow students.  As a priest, he preached against the Albigensian heresy and founded an institute for women. This happened about 10 years before he founded the group of Dominican friars. The Order was instituted out of the need for new type of order which will address the spiritual needs of the growing cities at that time through dedication and systematic education and having a more flexible organization than monastic orders or the secular clergy.

As for Thomas, whose feast day we celebrate as of this writing, he was a brilliant teacher, theologian, philosopher, and priest. Credit goes to him for writing Summa Theologica, an instructional guide for theology students, seminarians, and laity alike. He thought of writing this “because  a doctor of Catholic truth ought not only to teach the proficient, but to him pertains also to instruct beginners. As the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 3: 1–2, as to infants in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat, our proposed intention in this work is to convey those things that pertain to the Christian religion, in a way that is fitting to the instruction of beginners".

Both saints pointed to the Truth – Christ Himself.  No wonder that UST’s motto is Veritas.  I remember Fr Ernesto Arceo, OP (currently Rector of Aquinas University) mentioned in his homily a decade or so ago that if these men were senators in the Philippines during Joseph Estrada's impeachment, they would vote to have the controversial envelope (containing evidence that would allegedly prove Erap's corruption) opened. 

As we pay tribute to these saints and to the men and women comprising the Dominican Order in their Jubilee Year, let’s live AND share the truth. For as St Thomas once said “Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate”.

Nipping Evil at its Bud

Just a few days after the Holy Father's visit in the Philippines, when the country felt blessed with mercy and compassion, the Supreme Court has surprisingly extended these theological attributes to Joseph Estrada, deposed Philippine president and incumbent mayor of Manila. The High Court, voting 11-3, dismissed the disqualification case against him.  Supreme Court Spokesman Theodore Te says: "The majority characterized the pardon extended by Mrs. Arroyo to Mr. Estrada (in 2007) as absolute, thereby restoring Mr. Estrada's qualifications to stand as candidate in the last Mayoralty elections".

Voting for the dismissal were Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Presbitero Velasco Jr., Arturo Brion, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano Del Castillo, Martin Villarama Jr. , Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza, Bienvenido Reyes, and Estela Perlas-Bernabe. With the exception of Reyes and Perlas-Bernabe, the others are Arroyo appointees.  It seems to me that the first nine justices have remembered their patron, with help of the other two Aquino appointees.  One cannot fail to surmise that this court acted as an Arroyo court!

Voting against the dismissal were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Justices Antonio Carpio, and Marvic Mario Victor Leonen.  Carpio is the lone Arroyo appointee among the three.

I have been vocal against Estrada's candidacy for mayor of the city of my birth way back in 2013 due to the plunder case of which he was found guilty of by the Sandiganbayan (anti-graft court). Apart from this case, I didn't buy the idea that Erap would just run for a term before retiring (Is there a retirement age in politics? Come on! Imelda Marcos who's older than Estrada is still in public office).

It is unfortunate that Arroyo has granted presidential pardon to a mandarambong (Tagalog for plunderer) not so much for the good of the country, but more for her political agenda. And because Erap had done these sins with impunity (highlighted word borrowed from the the late Msgr. Nico Bautista who once told me how Estrada behaved as a public servant) and never showed any remorse, the pardon became a ticket for him to run for the presidency in 2010 and then the mayoralty in 2013. With the disqualification case being dismissed, this kapalmuks (thick faced) action star-turned-politician is ready for a come-back to Malacañan (God, forbid it!).

I hope that Alicia Vidal and former Mayor Alfredo Lim, the case's petitioner and intervenor respectively, would file a motion for reconsideration. 

Meanwhile, days before this infamous court decision was made, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed Senate Bill 2568 that seeks perpetual disqualification for a public servant convicted of plunder, even if pardoned by the president. Plunder, as defined by Republic Act 7080 as the accumulation of ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt criminal acts in the aggregate amount of P50 million by a public official. According to the feisty solon, the theft of such amount is "is unforgivably criminal, and no person who is capable of such act has a place in public office”.

According to the editorial of the Philippine Daily Inquirer: "Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago’s bill seeking the perpetual disqualification from public office of a government official convicted of plunder—even if pardoned by the president—is a timely corrective to the looming threat posed by Estrada running again for the presidency in a never-ending effort to vindicate his name. The bill deserves wide public support and should be passed by Congress, if it knows any better. A crime is a crime—more so if it’s as heinous as plunder. Popularity does not expunge it; otherwise, we can dispense with the justice system altogether and look to the horde, like the old Romans did, for a thumbs up or a thumbs down on a person’s guilt" (http://opinion.inquirer.net/82095/miriams-measure)

I commend Miriam for filing this bill. In spite of her lung cancer, she continues to serve the people by passing bills such as this. If P-Noy is dead serious in driving the final nail on corruption's coffin, he should mark this bill as urgent. Should the bill finally becomes a law, that would be a sound legacy he could leave his countrymen.

St. Thomas Aquinas, whose feast is celebrated as of this writing, once said "To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin".  Filipinos are know to be matiisin (forebearance) to the point that we are being robbed in broad daylight. If we condone the likes of Erap and Arroyo (Politicians scratch each others back!) it won't only be ourselves bearing the brunt of their wickedness.Our children and our children's children would surely suffer, the way they are/will be liable to pay the country's debt servicing thanks to Ferdinand Marcos (and his successors). Enough is enough!

Caveat Elector!

From the very start, it was bad taste for Joseph 'Erap' Estrada to run as mayor of Manila.  He was the country's head of state way back in 1998 until he was evicted from Malacañan in 2001. Put on house arrest, convicted for plunder (the crime booms like thunder!), and then pardoned by his predecessor, Erap has this mindset that he has done nothing wrong (Remember him saying: "Wala akong kasalanan!" at the height of his impeachment?).  So much so that he ran for president in 2010 (ignoring one of the conditions of his pardon).  Had Noynoy not run and won, we would have Erap back on the throne!

As though not learning enough from his debacle in 2010, he's now eyeing the mayorship of Manila. And to quash any charges that may possibly hail him to court on his residency, he had a house built in Manila last year.

Why Manila? Well, it has been said that if you are mayor of the nation's capital, you are, one way or another, like the President of the Philippines.  Another reason, which I like to believe is in Erap's agenda, is to use the mayoral post as a spring board back to Malacañan. Alfredo Lim, Manila's incumbent Mayor and Erap's rival for the post, tried that in 1998, but did not succeed.

Traditionally, Philippine presidents assume a 'senior statesman role' once their term of office expires.  Look at Elpidio Quirino, Cory Aquino, and Fidel Ramos. Look too at their foreign counterparts: USA's Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton; and UK's Margaret Thatcher, and Tony Blair. They retired as private citizens and did their best to serve the country in other ways. This tradition was broken by Gloria Arroyo and Erap, two known gahamans (greedy people) of the Philippines.

Wikipedia stated: In October 2010, Foreign Policy (magazine)[44] included Estrada in its list of five former head of states/governments who did not make "a positive difference in the world", but "faded away into obscurity." Also included in this "Bad Exes" list were Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra, Spain's Jose Maria Aznar, and Germany's Gerhard Schroder.

A bad ex (president), an ex con(vict),  a leader who claims to be pro-poor, but actually uses the poor to advance his own agenda (not to mention a known womanizer who sired children from different mothers).  Is Manila - one of the cities that rose to oust Erap in 2001- willing gamble its freedom to vote for such a candidate?

As I once commented in Facebook, "Yung baho sa San Juan, huwag nang dalhin pa sa Maynila" (Leave the stench of San Juan where it is. Don't bring it to Manila).
Caveat elector! (Voter beware!)