NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 11 Dec) — The House Committee on Justice, for approving the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno finds itself in a bind. Even if the members now have realized that they had been hoodwinked by Gadon, they are forced to help or join him in the fishing expedition for more evidences, in order – in the words of the Chair, “to build up the case” against the Chief Justice.
Accordingly, the 33 or so members of the Committee who endorsed the consideration of the complaint are now co-complainant of Atty.
Gadon. For approving the complaint, it also apparently makes the whole Committee the complainant against the Chief Justice, the reason to reinforce the hallow and empty impeachment complaint of Gadon. Without solid evidences to substantiate an article of impeachment, the Committee has to use its power to invite personalities to provide them.
The wily Gadon is all smile enjoying this development. The House deliberation has turned inane and ridiculous and made the Committee a laughingstock for the nation to watch in disgust.
If the Committee does not kick Gadon on the ass and continues still with its sordid and wasteful spectacle, then it was not really hoodwinked but had deliberately accommodated Gadon’s handiwork in response to the sinister whim of the patron in the Palace.
It is public knowledge that PRRD has expressed extreme displeasure with the independent thinking leaders of the Supreme Court, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Commission on Human Rights, and wanted them out.
And the only way, without unnecessarily disturbing the peace of the land, is via a legitimate-looking impeachment proceeding.
The game changer in this political hubbub is the Senate which will act as an impeachment court. There would be decided what remains of the honor of the House of Representatives, the credibility of the Senate itself, the plight of CJ Sereno and the Supreme Court, and the fate of our democracy.
**********
The immediate reconstruction of Marawi is critical in restoring the Maranao’s faith in the government that was badly shattered by the Five Month War. How it will proceed is crucial in getting the cooperation and support of the populace and in determining the success of this first ever gargantuan government project. It is vitally important that the reconstruction will be effectively spared from the corruption and inefficiency that have hounded the Yolanda rehabilitation project. Moreover, it should be shielded, too, from divisive political patronage,
Of significance to the project environment is the plight of the proposed Basic Bangsamoro Law (BBL) in Congress. Its non-passage or its approval in terribly watered-down version from proposed may yet again blow the clarion of war in Mindanao and put to naught all development interventions in the area.
Peace is a sine qua non of development. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental)