The curse of ‘quo warranto’

For in the same manner you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” – Matthew 7:2

Solicitor General Jose Calida might inwardly be beaming with pride as a lawyer and loyal supporter of President Duterte for having pioneered the first ever attempt to use “quo warranto” as a means to remove the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The enemies of Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno are probably thrilled at every opportunity to legally pummel their common target: the upstart and most junior of magistrates.

What Calida and the “Un-inhibited 5” Justices choose to be blind to is the certainty that once a Justice of the Supreme Court is removed from office through “quo warranto” it is almost certain that the same thing will happen year after year the same way “impeachment” is now being sought like an OTC or over-the-counter remedy.

Removing Chief Justice Sereno through “quo warranto” will be the final act of stripping away whatever protection future Chief Justices and Justices of the Supreme Court have against nuisance suits or political persecution. Anyone who contests this simply has to “review the tape” or go to Google and check how many attempts or complaints have been filed for impeachment after Erap. We now see the same thing happening after politicians managed to impeach the former Chief Justice Corona. In all probability, the next target would be Justice Teresita de Castro based on issue raised against her by Chief Justice Sereno.

It is nice to be the first to break ground as Solicitor Calida has done with his petition for “quo warranto,” but I’m afraid that in breaking ground he may have dug a grave that would swallow up the innocent and the guilty. I hope he does not have to witness the dark consequences of his action or suffer a similar fate when tides and fortune change.

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Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno has certainly caught the attention of the media, the public and her haters as she came out swinging against Digong, et al right after the long weekend. It did not help Malacañang either, when the President actually acknowledged Sereno as “looking for a fight,” which confirmed that Sereno has his attention. Unlike previous public appearances were Sereno presented herself as the “damsel in distress,” the combat version has people talking and comparing her to the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.

This may be cause for alarm for Malacañang, which explains why they want Congress and the Senate to fast-track her impeachment. The last thing Duterte needs is for a 2018 version of “Tita Cory” to rise up from the ashes of the Liberal party and start chipping away at the armor of the fire breathing dragon a.k.a Digong. Just thinking about how Cory stood her ground and ultimately replaced President Marcos could cause many people in today’s administration a lot of sleepless nights. Imagine what would happen if Vice President Leni Robredo decided to be more vocal as well?  Certainly interesting times ahead!

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This morning I would be in Pototan, Iloilo, a first class municipality where we will once again be teaching backyard hog raising. Before Iloilo, we were in Ipil, Zamboanga – Danao, Cebu – Baybay, Leyte. These four destinations are just the beginning of a 27-province caravan hosted by BMeg Feeds dubbed as BMeg Fiestahan. Although I’ve been part of the advocacy for several years, I noticed that this year, the crowds or number of participants have doubled at the very least. We used to get 800 to 1,000 participants when I first joined, but this year’s start already recorded 2,200 to 3,000 participants at each venue and everyone intently listening and participating to presentations and speakers.

People, especially new graduates have apparently caught on to the fact that, if you do it right, you can earn a steady income raising livestock such as pigs and chickens instead of trying to land an office job that almost always requires a college degree, fluent English and you still have to compete with so many for what is often a small salary. There is also an increasing number of retirees returning to the provinces and have started to put up weekend farms or retirement farms. Of course one reason for the increased interest in such events as the Fiestahan is the fact that pig and pork prices are at an all time high.

Aside from the growing interest and number of participants, I recently learned that many marketing or sales professionals from the pharmaceutical sector have been migrating or transferring to feed companies, particularly BMeg because of its San Miguel Corp. heritage. Anyone who has sat in line in hospitals and doctor’s offices know that there are so many pharma representatives who wait for hours to meet up with one doctor and it could take days before it happens. In the agri-feeds business, everything is outdoors, comparatively laid back and the cost of living outside city centers are far lower which combines for opportunity to build for the future. I even advise the young professionals I work with to invest in property in the provinces and start putting money on their own future farms because the bundoks of today will ultimately be developed if not partially urbanized in 20 years or so.

As a teacher and farmer at heart, I continue to dream that the Department of Agriculture, DepEd, and the DTI could one day get together with leaders and officials in the agri-feed industry in order to institutionalize the education and empowerment of the next generation of Filipinos in the provinces in terms of livestock farming. Instead of job creation, lets promote self-employment through agriculture. That’s just one of the many things we teach at every BMeg Fiestahan. I don’t teach them to catch a fish, I teach them how to raise a pig. OinK!

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