The Supreme Court acting on a quo warranto petition filed by the solicitor general voted 8-6 in favor of ousting Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
With this development, Malacañang has successfully completed its task of controlling the judiciary and consolidating its hold on power.
The institution is obviously shaken and with this, all present and future Supreme Court justices, whether they deny it or not, are vulnerable to the whims of Malacañang.
Those justices who opted to dance to the tune of President Duterte have condemned themselves in the eyes of all freedom-loving Filipinos. They are virtually begging Malacañang to utilize them as his tools.
The historic vote has also validated our views that the present political system is not only seriously flawed but is rotten to its very core.
The illusion of an independent judiciary has been broken. The illusion that the branches of government are coequal and independent of political and external influence, especially from Malacañang has been busted.
The illusion of checks and balances within the government’s branches and agencies has now been irreparably severed.
Make no mistake, this ouster will not lead to massive reforms in the judiciary.
Make no mistake, Mr. Duterte’s every whim whatever its irreconcilability with the laws of the land will find justification in the Supreme Court’s interpretations.
Make no mistake, our already fragile and slowly fading economic and political rights are now on the verge of wholesale extinction.
With the Supreme Court now compromised, it is now up to the sovereign Filipino people to not bow before the dark lord in Malacañang like what the judiciary just did.
JOANNE LIM, spokesperson, Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan