Change has come

Change has really come under the Duterte administration. And these are seen from the various moves and actions he has taken which indicate the blatant disregard of the scope and purpose of our Constitution to “secure for ourselves and our posterity, the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality and peace.” (Preamble, 1987 Constitution)

Since he assumed office, so many events have transpired apparently showing or tending to show lack of respect for the rule of law, the right to due process and violations of basic principles enshrined in our Charter particularly the separation of powers.

Prominent among them are the actions taken against Sister Patricia Fox, a 71-year-old Australian Catholic Missionary who was taken into custody and detained by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) about three weeks ago for alleged involvement in anti-government activities in violation of the conditions for her stay in the country.

Sister Patricia Fox is the superior of the Notre Dame of Sion, Philippine Province and has been here for 27 years doing missionary work with sincerity and dedication to serve our people especially the poor and the helpless in our country. Part of her work was apparently to help in promoting social justice and welfare among the poor by reminding them of their rights such as the land rights and the rights of workers.  These missionary works of Sister Fox were considered by the BI as engaging in “partisan political activities” which are supposedly in violation of immigration laws, rules and regulations. So last April 16, 2018, six immigration agents went to Sister Fox’s house in Quezon City to serve her a mission order and take her into custody for detention and investigation at the BI. She was released only the next day when her custody and detention were reported and played up by media.

Then last April 26, 2018, the BI eventually revoked the visa of Sister Patricia Fox ordering her to leave the country within 30 days. She was found to “have engaged in activities that are not allowed under the terms and conditions of her visa and violated certain laws of the land” Quite alarming in this move is that Sister Fox was not afforded the chance to be heard and explain her side before the revocation of her visa. More alarming is that Duterte himself admitted that he was the one who ordered Sister Fox custody, detention and deportation.

It seems that most of the “enemies” of Duterte are women. And this shown again by the actions taken against Maria Lourdes Sereno, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (SC), a separate and independent branch of our government. Pursuant to our Constitution, the SC Chief Justice and other Justices of the SC, may only be “removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of culpable violation of the Constitution, Treason, Bribery, Graft and Corruption other high crimes and betrayal of public trust” (Section 2, Article XI). In the case of Sereno, even if an Impeachment complaint has already been filed against her in the Lower House, and on alleged orders of Duterte again, the Solicitor General still filed in the Supreme Court itself a Quo  Warranto Petition against Sereno to remove her from office as Chief Justice allegedly because of lack of integrity when she submitted only three of her statement of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) in 2012 when she was appointed as Chief Justice, despite the rules of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) requiring submission of at least 10 SALNs. This latest action of the Solicitor General is not only beyond the one year prescriptive period for filing the petition but also runs counter to the constitutional provision on the removal of the Chief Justice only by impeachment.

Another move apparently indicating disregard of the right to due process is of course the closure of all the hotels, resorts and business establishments in Boracay for six months allegedly because of environmental violation, insufficient sewer and waste management that destroy ecological balance. This sweeping action is really quite questionable because not all of the hotels, resorts and business establishments there have been found liable or responsible for those violations. Their closure is therefore without due process of law. These establishments which have not committed environmental degradation should not have been closed but allowed to operate in order to mainly avoid deprivation of work and income to so many employees in said tourist destination. Deciding to close all establishments in Boracay for six months is quite drastic and arbitrary especially because of lack of due process of law.

Then of course there is also the premature release of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) list of barangay officials supposedly violating the Dangerous Drugs Law either because they are prohibited drug users, pushers or dealers. Releasing such list even before they are properly charged, tried and found guilty is clearly in violation of the right to due process of law. It is similar to the operation “Tokhang” where suspected drug addicts are killed allegedly because they fought and resisted arrest or “nanlaban.”

It is also worth mentioning here, the signing of the Executive Order prohibiting illegal contracting in work places commonly known of end-of-contract or “endo.” Duterte’s action here has been interpreted merely as a move to appease the workers particularly on the occasion of the Labor Day celebration last May 1, 2018. It has long been known that this “endo” is a means used by employers to avoid the regularization and permanent employment of employees so that they remain as probationary despite working for so many years. The EO signed by Duterte seemed to be unnecessary since there is already a pending bill in Congress on this subject. In fact it is even considered as an intrusion into the function of Congress which has the sole power to enact laws.

* * *

Email: [email protected]