Quo vadis, Ateneo Law School?

In a letter to the editor (“Wrong protest venue,” Opinion, 11/28/16), the writer noted: “The votes of those Atenean justices (referring to Ateneo College of Law alumni Arturo Brion, Mariano del Castillo and Estela Perlas-Bernabe) tilted the balance heavily in favor of the Marcoses…” A 9-5 majority vote is quite formidable, rendering the pending plea for reconsideration nothing more than “suntok sa buwan.”

With President Duterte being too stubborn to come to his senses, backed by a Supreme Court that is currently controlled by Marcos-friendly justices, the “hero’s burial” for the detested despot has become “consummatum est” and irreversible. From now on, we can all forget about the People Power phenomenon that gave the Filipino people the greatest honor and distinction of having fought tanks and heavy artillery with prayers and flowers—and succeeding, to the admiration of the whole world.

The incumbent president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, is facing a multitude of ralliers demanding her ouster for corruption—betrayal of the public trust in our parlance. By and large, they are occupying the streets of Seoul in a peaceful effort to force Park to step down—just like our People Power. We are being copied everywhere in the world where bloodless change of power is desired.

All my school days were spent in Ateneo. It sickens me that the “best lawyers” our school has spawned are now epitomized by the three Atenean justices sitting in the Supreme Court who think so highly of themselves and have forgotten everything that our alma mater’s motto, “Lux in Domino,” stands for. Sadly, too, the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was found guilty of corruption by the Senate impeachment court, was an Atenean.

Quo vadis, Ateneo Law School?

SCARLET S. SYTANGCO, sssytangco@gmail.com