An appeal that did not need to be made

FORMER LAW dean Abraham Espejo begged his former law professor, now Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, to show some moral scruples and recuse himself from the disqualification cases against Sen. Grace Poe (“Carpio urged to inhibit self in DQ cases against Poe,” Front Page, 1/14/16). Why Espejo needed to do that is really worrisome—more so that the appeal has to be directed at a supposedly “honorable” member of the highest court of the land! The justice should have done that already, without anyone asking.

Common sense lang po. Carpio and Supreme Court Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro and Arturo Brion, who sat as members of the Senate Electoral Tribunal, have expressed offensively biased views that are now subject to review by the Supreme Court en banc. Can they ever be expected to act with “cold neutrality” as sitting members of that Court? Don’t they really get it?

Already, they have shown their true colors: voting to jettison the temporary restraining order issued by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno who fortunately could rely on the level-headedness of the 11 other justices. It was 12 against 3 in favor of stopping the Commission on Elections from deleting Poe’s name from the list of presidential candidates on the ballot! Pending final determination of the issues, the injustice to Poe would have undoubtedly been irreparable!

Espejo urged only Carpio. Why not De Castro and Brion, too, who seem to be just as hell-bent on making Poe more miserable?

—MELISSA SY QUIATAN, [email protected]