iDEFEND Statement 2018

In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEEFEND) condemns in the strongest terms the attempt to remove Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno, in an unconstitutional process which undermines the rule of law and abrogates the role of Congress and the Senate in an impeachment and trial process respectively.

The Supreme Court is set to rule on a Quo Warranto petition- a calculated move which we believe is employed to dismantle the independence and effectiveness of judicial system towards removing any and all opposition to President Duterte’s authoritarian project. Eroding the integrity of the Supreme Court not only puts at serious risk the legal remedies being accessed by victims of human rights violations, but dissolves the foundations of our democratic system.

We urge our legislators to uphold the constitutional process and not to abandon their duty to prevent a dangerous precedent affecting future Supreme Court justices and members of Constitutional bodies. It is a dangerous precedent consolidating the power of the President of the Philippines.

We call on all stakeholders to protest this latest assault on the rule of law and the Constitution.

iDEFEND stands by all democratic forces resisting the systematic eradication of our democratic institutions.

Defend Human Rights

Uphold the Rule of Law

Defend Democracy

Defend our Democratic Institutions and Processes

Resist Dictatorship