‘Unkindest cut of all’

This is regarding “The Supreme Court commits suicide” (5/15/18) by columnist John Nery.

Like Nery I cannot comprehend why Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza opted to “convict” Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida.

A constitutional law professor of all people should have been the first to defend, protect and uphold the Constitution and this needs no further explanation.

Nery’s words likewise need no additional clarification. “… [Jardeleza’s] vote to allow the patently unconstitutional ouster of the Chief Justice upended everything he taught […] in
constitutional law.”

We know that Sereno and Jardeleza crossed swords in the Itu Aba issue which prompted her to call him “traitor.” He considered Itu Aba as a mere rock protruding from the sea which should not be included in the Philippine claim against China while she regarded the 1,400-meter-long and 400-meter-wide geographical piece as an island in favor of the Philippines.

The Philippines won against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Jardeleza was forced to concede but bad blood boiled in his veins against her.

It could have been the height of statesmanship had the “eminent” constitutional law professor cast aside his personal feelings against Sereno and voted instead in favor of the Constitution which he is supposed to defend, protect and uphold.

Shakespeare’s dramatization of Marcus Junius Brutus’ treachery is clearly evident in Jardeleza’s deed. He helped “murder” the Constitution with the “dagger” he held in his hands by delivering the “unkindest cut of all” at the heart of the fundamental law of the land.

RAMON MAYUGA, ramon.mayuga49@gmail.com