WE ARE VICTIMS OF A CONSTITUTIONAL SET-UP

September 21, 2017
By Paulino Jose Misa

The present situation has made apparent a huge defect in the system of checks and balances of the 1987 Constitution as well as exposed the rotten duplicity of our apparently fraudulently elected officials . The immunity from suit with impeachment as the only recourse for the removal of appointed Constitutional officials does not appear to be an ideal option. A relatively honest official might be ganged up on and removed on rather flimsy grounds as what happened to CJ Corona.

On the other hand, to expect that a COMELEC Chairman might be removed for perpetrating massive electoral fraud sounds more like a delusional rather than a practical proposition. A COMELEC Commissioner who successfully committed massive fraud would undoubtedly have more friends than enemies among the elected officials supposed to impeach him.

As usual, the various song and dance numbers that preceded his impeachment : the teen-agers's deaths, Sereno's impeachment and the CHR's P1,000 budget were merely distractions to keep us occupied and to dissipate the anger towards Bautista until the fix could be arranged properly.

With the Bautista impeachment out, we can expect that the teenager's deaths will again be brought to fore in today's protests, the CHR's budget will be resolved and Sereno's impeachment will die a contrived death in the Senate while the Monsignor's case will quietly fade into history.

Time is obviously on the side of the malefactors as it only allows them the opportunity to scheme and conspire, "gapangin", until they find a "proper" solution to their problems. And none of it will surely amount to any good. Must we really have to wait till more lives are sacrificed?