Concern raised regarding Sereno ‘lawyering’ for Poe

Feb. 2, 2016, was a sad day for me. I couldn’t believe that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno could act so small before my admiring eyes in the way she handled herself during the oral arguments in the disqualification case against Sen. Grace Poe. It was very clear that Sereno was lawyering for Poe.

I was thankful, however, that she obviously failed to sink Commissioner Arthur Lim of the Commission on Elections with her spirited defense and humanitarian concerns for Filipino foundlings. Indeed, how could Sereno ignore the excellent argument of Commissioner Lim that letting Senator Poe get off the hook would violate the constitutional provisions on citizenship and the required residency period of 10 years or more for presidential candidates? How could she brush aside Lim’s point that the citizenship issue on foundlings Congress could tackle later by amending the Constitution such that it declares foundlings natural-born Filipino citizens?

I hope that the associate justices of the Supreme Court would be steadfast in observing the saying, “dura lex sed lex” (the law may be harsh but it is the law).

Indeed, if even the chief justice could be so biased in handling cases like the case of Poe, we might as well throw our Constitution to the dogs!

—CARLOS D. ISLES, carlosisles@gmail.com