Intemperate

FIRST PERSON

- ALEX MAGNO

I like the statement put out by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on the Supreme Court's impeachment ruling. It is sober, non-partisan and temperate.

The lawyers' group warned against efforts to stir public defiance of the Supreme Court ruling. These efforts could lead to "a dangerous erosion of the legal order."

The IBP statement reminds citizens: "Disagreement with the Court's reasoning is part of democracy. But to incite repudiation of its authority, or to call for outright defiance, undermines the very foundations of our legal institutions."

Furthermore, the statement continues, "Every adverse ruling cannot become an invitation to disobey. The law must not become the first casualty of dissent."

Since the Court issued its ruling on the validity of the impeachment complaint filed against Vice President Sara Duterte, a concert of dissenting voices rose—a large part of it politically orchestrated. A major portion of the concert of dissent goes overboard: impugning the honor and integrity of the nation's highest court, imagining some conspiracy theory at play or, in the most specious way, assigning ill motive to the Court's ruling.

In our democracy, dissent is encouraged. But it is presumed the dissent is well intentioned rather than mere partisan attack, that it is founded on well-reasoned arguments and not on mere rant. Irresponsible dissent taxes our people's confidence in our institutions, depletes our civic discourse and inflicts long-term damage on our political culture. See how Donald Trump and his MAGA cultists have warped American discourse.