No one is above the law

“No one is above the law, least of all those who are duty-bound to uphold it,” emphasized Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa in his keynote address at the 2^nd Investigating Commissioners’ Summit of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines–Commission on Bar Discipline (IBP-CBD) on Sept. 8, 2023. (sc.judiciary.gov.ph)

Mr. Caguioa, then the chairperson of the SC Sub-Committee on IBP Oversight, addressed the 144 new Investigating Commissioners, saying: “Those of us who are clothed with the competence to ensure fairness and justice cannot be the first to outsource a sense of right and wrong.”

“Nemo est supra legis.” No one is above the law!

Also, according to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article III, Section 1: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”

This is the equal protection of the laws. What if some lawmakers and public officials break the law, and their trial is in the hands of their compatriots-at-work, supporters, and friends — how are the rights of their victims, and the rights of all to the truth and justice, protected under the law?

“No leader should be above the Constitution and the law,” then-House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said in his remarks before the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), of which he was then-president, on Feb. 9, 2025. The event was attended by Philconsa chairman and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, jurists, and lawyers, with Chairman George Garcia of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as guest of honor and speaker.

Leaders must be made accountable for wrongdoing, and the people have the collective responsibility to ensure that “no leader is ever beyond the reach of the law.”

“Salus populi est suprema lex (The welfare of the people is the supreme law).” The accountability of leaders is not erased or diminished by a claim to technicalities of the law that puts forth a leader’s “rights” over the transgressed rights of the people (the common good).

“Salus populi est suprema lex/” is a maxim found in De Legibus/On the Laws (book III, part III, sub. VIII), a Socratic dialogue written by Marcus Tullius Cicero some time between 58 BC and 43 BC, in the last phase of the Roman Republic. Cicero was an active advisor to government, and he proposed reforms to the Roman Constitution (Book III). On the judicial system he spoke against bribes and “fixing,” as he proposed public trial with a magistrate (judge) presiding for order. The People’s Assemblies were, by law, to be free of violence, and were also legislative assemblies. In both the Senate and People’s Assemblies, Cicero would impose a stipulation that only those with thoroughly unblemished behavior and reputations could remain — the Censors could remove those who misbehaved at will.

He hoped that such a reformed Senate could serve as an example of probity, harmony, common interest, and fair play for the rest of the Roman state. Acquisitiveness and greed in the Senate were to be severely punished. This was not so much to punish the greed itself, but because greed in the Senate bred greed and dissent among the Romans. “If you’re prepared to go back over the records of history, it is plain that the state has taken its character from that of its foremost men” (from De Legibus, III.31).

HOW GOES THE PHILIPPINE SENATE NOW?
Deep existential angst torments the collective consciousness about what is happening in the Senate, and in the country, now. The new majority has seemingly chosen tragi-comic farce as the theme for its sessions, now and future, under the speakership of Alan Peter Cayetano. (House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Representative Leila de Lima called the 13-member majority the “DDS” — Duterte Die-hard Supporters — according to the Manila Bulletin on May 12.)

Distracting scenarios confuse the real issues of graft and corruption in government, much like the “play-within-a-play” of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, whose famous quote goes: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Something is rotten in the Philippines.

The “play-within-a-play” opened with gunfire crackling in the Senate on May 13, at about 7:45 p.m., according to rappler.com. The Senate had been on lockdown since May 11, after the grand coup by the 13-DDS majority, replacing Senator Tito Sotto of the “opposition” with Mr. Cayetano. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who had been hiding for six months because of a pending International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest — was suddenly present at the Senate session that installed Cayetano as Speaker. Cayetano admitted that Mr. Dela Rosa rode his (Cayetano’s) vehicle to facilitate his entry in the Senate, said an ABS-CBN News report .

Rappler reported: “For Dela Rosa, the Senate had become a safe haven … shielded by its walls, and protected by the new leadership of his ally, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. The new Senate president had vowed not to allow his arrest within the premises of the upper chamber. On Wednesday afternoon (May 13), Dela Rosa went live on Facebook, saying government authorities would arrest him. A few hours later, unrest unfolded.” And on May 14 at about 2:30 a.m., Dela Rosa, accompanied by Senator Robinhood Padilla, exited the Senate building, where he had been in the protective custody of the Senate as guaranteed by Mr. Cayetano. CCTV footage showed them leaving the building on a white Toyota Fortuner registered under Padilla (abs-cbn.com/news, May 20).

Dela Rosa had filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court to prevent the government from arresting him on the ICC warrant — he faces charges over the bloody anti-drug campaign he enforced as a police general during the Duterte administration. On May 17, the Office of the Solicitor General urged the SC to reject the TRO, saying the country is committed to international law and to holding those responsible accountable. And the SC denied Dela Rosa’s plea on May 20, the Philippine News Agency reported.

Law enforcement agencies may now proceed with serving the ICC arrest warrant against Mr. Dela Rosa, said Justice Secretary Frederick Vida. “First, there’s a valid arrest warrant issued by the ICC. Second, he is not in the Senate premises. Third, there’s no TRO or any interim order from the Supreme Court. Fourth, the arrest warrant is now enforceable. So, it will be enforced, and it will be served,” he said in a press briefing.

Reacting to the Justice department’s pronouncement, Senator Risa Hontiveros (now with the “minority”) stressed that the rule of law must prevail. “We reiterate our call on Senator Dela Rosa: Respect the law, and submit and cooperate with law enforcers and legal processes. I pray for the peaceful and lawful resolution of this situation, which has already affected multiple institutions, and the entire country itself. May justice be served,” she said.

But the pending arrest (or surrender?) of Dela Rosa is only the conclusion of the “play-within-the-play” farce roiled up at the Senate in the last two weeks. The big drama will be the impeachment trial of Vice-President Sara Duterte, which will start on July 6, after the pretrial and marking of evidence is done. Duterte has until July 1 to formally answer her impeachment case, as her camp confirmed receiving the Senate summons, Cayetano confirmed, according to the Philippine Star.

Ms. Duterte may opt not to be present during the trial, to control the narrative, UP College of Law associate dean and assistant professor Paolo Emmanuel Tamase said. “Of the four Articles of Impeachment, Article II on unexplained wealth is the strongest case against Duterte. Aside from the unexplained wealth, the three other crimes included were confidential funds or Article 1; Article III on bribery and death threats on President Marcos or Article IV (Ibid.).”

House lead-prosecutor Gerville Luistro (who chaired the House Committee on Justice hearings on probable cause, the results of which were submitted to the Senate for the impeachment trial), opposed proposals that would allow senator-judges to participate or register their vote in impeachment matters even if they are not physically present in the Senate, saying the gravity of proceedings would need their personal presence (Ibid.). Ergo, the fugitive Mr. Dela Rosa cannot attend and participate as a judge in the Senate impeachment trial. That would be minus one vote for the “DDS” majority for the junking of the impeachment!

The shameless manipulations of this self-established majority that has been calling the shots (literally and figuratively) in the Senate have roused the anger of the common people over the past two weeks. The political/moral confusion inflicted on the collective consciousness leads to a loss of trust and confidence in government and its leaders.

Will Sara Duterte be impeached? Will Bato Dela Rosa be arrested?

“Nemo est supra legis.” No one is above the law!

“Salus populi est suprema lex.” The welfare of the people is the supreme law.

Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

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