The three branches of the government namely the Executive, Legislative, and the Judiciary exist to check and balance each other. They each hold different powers.
The “Power of the Sword” or the power to execute laws rests on the Executive. The “Power of the Purse” or the power to allot budgets and create laws to better the lives of the people rests on the Legislative, and the “Power of Reason” or the Power to interpret laws rests on the Judiciary.
This is a simple way to showcase the extent and/ limits of the powers of each branch. For reasons I couldn’t explain, I had goosebumps as this was being explained to us by our Philippine Constitution professor back in College. For my younger mind, at that time, it was just sublime.
Three branches that will forever guard each other’s moves, making sure that none would stomp on the law. What could be more brilliant than that?
But in the last decade we have all witnessed how one branch could bully, oppress, and eventually cripple the other.
Current Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has been graceful and over-all impressive in the way she dealt with the current Duterte Government. Resorting to subtle but substantial speeches and letters, Sereno has pointed what this government has been doing wrong. At first the president Duterte played charming and respectful, but now the Chief Justice will be impeached.
She is not the first Chief Justice to undergo impeachment. CJ Renato Corona, her predecessor, went through the same thing and was convicted guilty of betraying the public trust and committing culpable violation of the Constitution.
He was said to have not been truthful in the declaration of his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Right now CJ Sereno is being accused of the same thing, among others.
Chief Justice Sereno might just have the same fate as CJ Corona. Corona have been found guilty, CJ Sereno can be found guilty too, but not yet.
She is to defend herself as her lawyers are impeded from representing her nor examining witnesses, a move that her lawyers say violates her rights.
If it were to be found that CJ Sereno has indeed committed the things she is accused of, it is only just that she should be convicted and removed from office.
But there is an apparent power play here. And I am not under the illusion that Malacañang has no hand in this.
The impeachment is but a process of determining whether an impeachable government officer has indeed committed an impeachable offense.
It is but a process, and yet the outcome is almost obvious. It’s like the road to it has been paved, bulldozed.
What, you might ask, is the scary part? Previous Aquino administration had an intention to kick CJ Corona out so they could replace him with an ally, that way, he/she would cooperate and they can do whatever they want.
This is something that you would expect from every new administration. They want to get things done so they need to replace people holding focal positions with an ally if they were to achieve anything.
The scarier part is this.
While the Aquino Admin had a miniscule sense of shame (meaning that they trembled at thought of people finding out about their macabre deeds and would always find an excuse so they won’t be painted as the bad guys), the current administration has none at all.
Dissent, regardless of whose party it comes from, serves the people well.
These people who think that government officials like Chief Justice Sereno is only meddling with the current administration’s “wonderful plans” for the nation know nothing.
They do not understand what Sereno stands for right now.
She stands as blockade against an oppressive regime that delights and even uses the people’s ignorance against them.
One by one, dissenters like Sereno will be taken down, and we are all just watching like as if this has nothing to do with us.
One by one, dissenters like Sereno will be taken down, and when they’re all gone. We will all be next.
I do not believe writing this could do much for the Chief Justice.
But I stand with her and everything that she stands for./WDJ