‘We must not remain silent in these trying times’

We, members of Damdaming Katoliko sa Teolohiya, view with utter dismay the recent Supreme Court ruling which ousted the sitting chief justice. We are neither for nor against personalities in this issue. We are alarmed by the manner in which this was done. Eight justices of the Supreme Court were responsible for what their dissenting peers described as a “legal abomination,” a “rewriting of the Constitution,” a commission of “seppuku—without honor” and “an impermissible short-cut.” The majority did it despite the preruling manifestation of the 40,000-strong Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the 130 law deans and professors in the country, civil society and human rights groups, and constitutionalists opposing the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General.

We need to be ever more vigilant in order that the dark forces of evil in our society may not prevail. We cannot and must not remain silent in these trying times. We join our voice together with other Filipinos of goodwill as we exclaim, “We dissent.”

We reaffirm our strong belief and continue to worship the God of truth and justice. For God’s truth and justice are the hope for all of us believers (Isaiah 30:18-19). Despair, dissension and conflict will eventually wither and, through our faith-informed struggles together with other citizens of goodwill, the light of God’s truth will eventually shine in all its splendor. (John 16:33; 1 John 1:5; Revelation 21:3-4)

DAMDAMING KATOLIKO SA TEOLOHIYA