AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE DE LA SALLE BROTHERS
In an open letter dated April 19, 2018, Br. Jose Mari Jimenez FSC, Auxiliary Visitor for the Philippines and de facto head of the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines, wrote about the “troubling developments” in our country and the need “to hold those who claim to represent us truly accountable for their acts.” Below is his letter.
Restoring Our Faith in Democracy: A Call to Build a Citizenry Capable of Demanding Accountability from Public Officials
Dear Lasallians,
With unrelenting zeal, I write to you again to renew our commitment to build a vibrant democracy for the young people to whom we have pledged our service. Today, we renew our call for radical citizenship as we witness the gradual weakening of the institutions that have been mandated to protect and nurture our democracy. The sense of order that liberates emanates from a shared commitment to principles and values – and not from blind adherence to the dictates of one entity. The regression in our democratic order that we see unravelling before us is the result of power exercised without principles and without a sense of accountability.
At this point, this work of consolidating our democracy appears more herculean given the wanton disregard of the rule of law, evident in the quo warranto petition of the Solicitor General to the Supreme Court to declare the disqualification of the incumbent Chief Justice. The quo warranto is without basis in the Constitution, which unequivocally identifies impeachment as the only option to unseat the Chief Justice.
As if the over-reach of the Solicitor General is not sufficient, the president himself declares the incumbent Chief Justice as his enemy. The pronouncement is a threat hurled at a co- equal official and does not augur well for a well-functioning democracy that relies on a system of checkand-balances. We are alarmed at these troubling behaviors by the Executive for it betrays a lack of respect for the integrity and independence of the Judiciary.
On 08 March 2018, the House committee on justice, voting 38 to 2, deemed an impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice as having probable cause. In its proceedings, members of the House panel bewailed the lack of proper evidence to support the impeachment complaint. We are alarmed that the House committee should give blessing to a flawed complaint.
We are alarmed that in the wake of inquiries on the cases of extrajudicial killings in the purported war against drugs, the president has unilaterally decided to withdraw from the International Criminal Court ( ICC). Recently, the president threatened a prosecutor of the ICC that she would be arrested should she visit the country. This is not the first time that the president has threatened an international official, having issued the same warning against a Rapporteur of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Only this week, Sr. Patricia Fox NDS, an Australian missionary nun, part of an international factfinding and solidarity mission in Mindanao, was apprehended by Immigration officials and threatened with deportation. From our perspective, these threats are misplaced assertions of the country’s sovereignty. Ranged against the submissiveness of the president to China on our rightful sovereign claim on our territory in the West Philippine Sea, we are extremely befuddled with the president’s selective invocation of our country’s sovereignty.
Amidst all these troubling developments, we reaffirm our commitment to take every step necessary to strengthen our democratic order, to restore our faith in democracy. Without doubt, not everyone in our community will share our perspective on the
If there is a place where our battles have to be fought, it is in the hearts of those who have come to believe that they cannot do anything.