What’s IBP good for?

The report, “IBP to SC: Annul Sereno ruling” 6/12/18), had us shaking our heads in amusement.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines railed against the Supreme Court’s “overreach tainted with ‘political considerations and personal biases’” when it unseated Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice through quo warranto, which is clearly not within the language and intent of the Constitution.

There is nothing new about the Supreme Court defying what the Constitution says. At the core of our judicial system is the need for the courts to administer justice more swiftly, which is why the Constitution ordains that they render decisions within two years only.

While being ultrastrict about such periods with the lower courts, the high court has deemed itself exempt from that mandate, hence, its humongous backlog of thousands of undecided cases (and still growing), with so many litigants and lawyers already dead or dying of old age without seeing their cases resolved with finality.

But the IBP has also long lost its credibility by default. By quietly and meekly letting the Supreme Court make a continuing mockery of the Constitution, what right has it now to question the court’s trashing of the fundamental law once again?

Whatever is the IBP, which exacts millions of pesos in annual dues from its 60,000-plus captive members, good for?

RIMALDO PACIFICO
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