Church leaders: Selective justice is abuse of power

MANILA, Philippines - Church authorities expressed dismay over the dismissal of Sandiganbayan Justice Gregory Ong despite lack of evidence, citing abuse of power and injustice.

 

“Selective justice is exactly that, a perversion of justice by selecting whom to prosecute and to shield from prosecution,” San Beda College Graduate School of Law Dean Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, said.

According to a report from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Aquino mentioned tDepartment of Social Welfare and Development Secretary “Dinky” Solíman, Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Department of Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad and Department of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima as having "serious wrong-doings" but always being cleared by Malacañang without further investigation.

 

“The justice system in the Philippines is sick and sickening. What do we mean by that? For one thing, there are so many cases that remained unsolved, so many criminal cases are filed and then they are released, cases which are very grievous like the Maguindanao massacre of 58 people and 5 years later, nothing has happened. That is not only justice delayed and justice denied, that is injustice per se,” Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz said.

 

Cruz added that "suppletory evidence" must be included in deciding case resolutions and not just based on "complementary evidence" alone.

 

CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas released a statement on selective justice last month reiterating that, “Everybody culpable, whatever their political affiliations may be, should be investigated and, if so warranted, indicted. When justice is selective, it is not justice at all.”

 

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