I was shocked and disappointed about the recent Supreme Court’s ruling junking the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) decision to disqualify neophyte Senator Grace “Poequino” Llamanzares to run in the May election. I was hoping that these “respectable” and “incorruptible” justices of the Supreme Court will rise above partisan politics and give a verdict based on the rule of law and in the Philippine Constitution.
Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno and eight other justices who voted in favor of Senator “Poequino” Llamanzares, clearly based their decision not on the Constitution, but on what their benefactors want. Many political pundits and prominent lawyers are saying that the “Sereno kangaroo court” ruling clearly violated the Constitution and destroyed the rule of law.
There have been rumors that President Benigno Aquino influenced the outcome of the Supreme Court decision by calling up the justices he appointed to support the presidential bid of Senator “Poequino” Llamanzares.
The name of a prominent billionaire businessman engaged in food and beverage business also came up as one of the major players who influenced the high court in coming with a favorable ruling for Llamanzares. The same businessman is also the one bankrolling the candidacy of “Poequino” Llamanzares. As a matter of fact, Llamanzares’ huband, an American citizen, is a consultant in the country’s biggest beverage company.
In the Philippines , if you have the money and influence, nothing is impossible.
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Last year, Senator Antonio Trillanes made a startling revelation about pervasive corruption in the Philippine Judicial system. In his exposé, Trillanes claimed that some cases in Philippine courts are decided not on merits but on how much a person engaged in lawsuit is willing to pay a justice or a judge to get a favorable ruling. Although Trillanes never mentioned any names, he urged the Supreme Court to initiate an investigation. Supreme Court Chief Justice Sereno however refused to entertain such allegations.
If Trillanes’ allegations are true, it is despicable and revolting. A corrupt judicial system not only violate the basic right to equality before the law, but also deny the procedural rights of individuals guaranteed by the Constitution. These corrupt justices and judges should be booted out from office to ensure Filipinos can live in a place where there is equal opportunity for everyone to live a life with dignity.
I hope that Sereno and her eight justices were motivated to render a favorable ruling for Llamanzares because of their belief that she could be a good president someday and not because of what people tend to believe that millions of pesos were forked over to influence their decision.
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Now that the Supreme Court has given the “green light” for Llamanzares to run in the May elections, she can now buy her way to the presidency with the help of the prominent billionaire businessman. Although Llamanzares and her financial backers and supporters were apparently successful in corrupting the Supreme Court, she is of course not yet assured of an easy path to Malacañang in May. She still has to win the elections.
Meanwhile, Senator Llamanzares also still has to respond to issues regarding allegations about her of being a notorious liar and thief. She also has to ward off public indignation on how she and her backers corrupted the Supreme Court.
Voters should now closely examine or scrutinize the candidates’ credentials as well as their platforms they are presenting to the people. They should also try to find out who are the financial backers of every presidential candidates and what they intend to gain should their candidate win.
Latest polls showed that she and Vice President Jojo Binay are still statistical tied with less than three months to go before Filipinos troop to polling places to choose their next president.
Davao city Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is in third place while Mar Roxas, President Aquino’s anointed candidate, lags in dismal fourth. Senator Miriam Santiago is in last place.