Ni: Jeffrey G. Damicog
Nagpahayag ng pagkabahala ang Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) na ginagamit ang mga impeachment complaint laban kay Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno para pasunurin ang hudikatura.
“May we express the hope that impeachment as a process is not being brandished as a weapon of submission thereby defeating Constitutional design that the judicial branch be insulated from considerations other than the facts and the law in discharging its function of adjudication,” saad sa pahayag ni IBP national president Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo.
“It is an assault upon the Constitution and the very ideal of limited government that is enshrined in it, when impeachment is misused as the very tool to undermine judicial independence,” anang Fajardo.
Archdiocese of Manila, hindi mag-eendorso ng kandidato sa eleksyon
Tiniyak ni Fajardo na masugid na babantayan ng IBP ang impeachment proceedings laban kay Sereno.
Pinuna ni Fajardo na tila naging pangkaraniwan na ang pagsasampa ng impeachment complaint, na hindi dapat nangyayari.
Dahil sa napipintong impeachment complaints laban kina Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman Andres Bautista at Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, iginiit ni Fajardo na ang impeachment ay dapat na gamitin “sparingly” at para lamang sa “gravest of instances.”
“The frequency and rate of these impeachment initiatives dilutes its power, strains the limited resources of Congress and, presents troubling questions whether like any other device, impeachment is being wielded wisely or carelessly,” paliwanag niya.
