Former U.P. College of Law Professor and now Supreme Court Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno issued a stinging rebuke to SC spokesperson Midas Marquez; who made it appear that the Supreme Court voted to issue a status quo ante order to prevent the House of Representatives' justice panel from hearing two impeachment complaints vs. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez after receiving copies of the petition when the fact is that they never had ample time to study and read Gutierrez' petition which was only filed the day before.
The implication is obvious: Atty. Marquez is acting as the official apologist for a rubber-stamp, GMA-sympathetic and dominated Supreme Court was only too glad to issue a status quo ante order vs. the hearing of the impeachment complaints versus Gutierrez, who is the best guarantee of former President Arroyo against official prosecution for high crimes and misdemeanors versus the Filipino people.
To read the rest of the GMA News article discussing Atty. Marquez's lack of transparency in keeping the public informed about what happened, please click on this link: SC justice to court spokesman: Don't misinform public - Nation - GMA News Online - Latest Philippine News
The Diliman Diary supports the growing clamor by citizen's groups such as Pagbababo (please see: http://diliman-diary.blogspot.com/2011/03/pagbabago-calls-for-public-support-for.html) for the impeachment of Ombudsman Gutierrez, because there is a tremendous backlog of investigations by the Ombudsman versus high-ranking government officials inside and outside the Diliman area. This can only have come about because of unrecorded deals made in back rooms in the corridors of power. But even as justice delayed is surely justice denied; we in turn are witness to the pathetic spectacle of the Ombudsman announcing in the media and on its official website about how proactively and aggressively its office is investigating and prosecuting what amounts to the smallest of the small-fry in our government while the real criminals, scalawags and the crooks prance away scot-free. This spectacle fills us with shame and disgust.
And rage.
We therefore look forward to witnessing impeachment proceedings versus the Ombudsman take place with the first step of a long process taking place in the House of Representatives and ending (no matter how it ends) in the Senate. Time is of the essence, and it is important for a truly independent Ombudsman to be appointed so that the era of impunity and lack of fear by our government officials against official prosecution will draw to a close.
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