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La Salle leaders decry ‘protection of power’ in Senate controversies
The heads of one of the country’s top Catholic academic institutions have raised alarm over the controversies hounding the Senate, which they said put into question its integrity and dignity.
“More than a conflict among political personalities, recent events compel us to confront a painful question: What becomes of our democratic institutions when they are not serving truth and justice, but in the protection of power? The controversies now hounding the Senate have become so serious that they force us to ask whether it is fulfilling its mandate,” said the presidents of La Salle schools in a statement, “Restoring Faith and Dignity in the Senate.”
“From invoking questionable institutional protection for a member of the chamber facing accountability for alleged crimes against humanity, to the violence that unfolded within its halls, to the shameless public posturing that has followed, our Senators have done so little to restore the confidence of the Filipino people. Instead, they have only deepened the perception that the institution is more concerned with shielding the powerful rather than upholding the rule of law,” added the statement.
On Tuesday, May 26, minority senators walked out of the session hall, preventing a vote on a motion to amend the Senate rules to allow senators to participate remotely in sessions.
“We strongly condemn what appears to be an attempt to rush a major change in the Senate Rules, especially when several members of the minority still wanted to speak and raise serious questions on the floor,” the minority senators said in a joint statement after the session.
On May 13, gunshots rang out on the Senate’s second floor in the evening amid an ongoing lockdown at the upper chamber, where Senator Ronald Dela Rosa is under protective custody.
An arrest warrant was earlier issued by the International Criminal Court against Dela Rosa in connection with his role in the war on drugs of the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano claimed the Senate was “allegedly under attack” amid the incident. But this was contradicted by Malacanang and the National Bureau of Investigation, emphasizing that it was the personnel from the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-arms who fired the first shot.
At around 2:30 a.m. on May 14, Dela Rosa left the Senate premises together with Sen. Robin Padilla.
The La Salle heads said restoring faith in the Senate and upholding its dignity “requires moving beyond political spectacle, abandoning attempts to manipulate the rules of the institution to suit political interests, and confronting the violence committed within its halls with the seriousness and transparency it demands.”
“It can only come through a clear and unwavering commitment to truth, justice, and ethical public service qualities once embodied by distinguished senators who dignified the office they occupied,” they said.
“We must not accept the normalization of institutions meant to serve the Filipino people being used instead to protect a powerful few from accountability,” they added.
GMA News Online is trying to get a comment from the Senate leadership and will update the story once available. —LDF, GMA News
