Doing what’s right isn’t always easy.
“A day after the Supreme Court dismissed Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong for violations of the judiciary’s code of conduct, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said cleansing the ranks of the judiciary was necessary,” report Jocelyn R. Uy, Marlon Ramos, and Tarra Quismundo in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Sereno explained, “We have to go through this process. We have no choice but to go through housecleaning, even if it’s painful to some of us.”
READ: SC sacks Sandiganbayan judge with alleged ties to Janet Lim Napoles
She went on to say, “The transformative effect of these small incremental steps will be such that, eventually, we can feel that the country is proud of what we are doing. Our people will again have belief in government and Filipinos can finally believe that justice being guaranteed them by the Constitution is not but part of mythology but is actually a living reality.”
The report noted: “Ong was removed from the antigraft court for his links with Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged brains behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam. Ong was found Ong liable for ‘fraternizing’ with Napoles when his Sandiganbayan division handled a graft and malversation case filed against the businesswoman and several others for the delivery of subpar Kevlar helmets to the Philippine Marines.”
Photo from the Supreme Court website
