Official Stand of the Ateneo Law School Student
Body
Ateneo de Manila Law School Student Body
Life is stranger than fiction.
In this latest edition of the Philippine telenovela, unscrupulous
politicians manipulate the emotions of the Filipino people with what
angers them most: unbridled greed, all-consuming ambition, and unfettered
corruption that taints everything we hold dear. The politicians manipulate
the people with tittilating words that cater to our penchant for personal
insults and witty rhetoric. It's everything we want to see in a prizefight,
except the prize is what's left of the Philippines after their petty
bickering, and it may not be much.
To this manipulation of the Filipino, we say: no more. We have no
trust left in our so-called leaders, who trumpet their spiels about
being right and just as if their shouting will turn their lies into
truth.
Please, do us a favor. Don't sway us with your blatant agitprop tactics
that steer focus away from the issues that really concern Filipinos.
We have bigger issues and greater concerns at hand.
Our fellow Filipinos, we must not give in to the politics of hype.
We have so much at stake that we cannot afford to lose sight of what
really matters.
Today, we call for sobriety, especially in a time like this when
leaders on both sides smack of so much greed that they have no moral
capacity to govern. Who then, are we to trust?
It is not a question of who as it is a question of what. If we are
to show our strength and maturity as a Filipino people, we have no
choice but to trust the rule of law. We have a system that protects
us against our abusers and tormentors. However, it works only when
we all believe.
Let the rule of law prevail.
To those who claim to be on the side of the rule of law, now is the
time to live by your words. Stop feeding the hysteria that does nothing
but drive our economy deeper into the mud. We will not allow you to
sacrifice the future of the Filipino for your own political gain.
To those who are guilty but are hiding behind the law, stop this
arrant nonsense, stop the pretense of moral superiority. Acknowledging
your guilt is not enough. To fully atone, you must pay your debt in
full to the Filipino people in the form appropriate under the rule
of law. Nothing more, nothing less.
Once upon a February in 1986, we ratified a Constitution that established,
among others, a system by which we, the people, can hold accountable
those who purportedly govern. *It is high time that we put that very
system to use and put those who usurp people power where they rightfully
belong.*
It's the right thing to do.
