Over 100 UP Law faculty urge House to junk Leonen ouster complaint

Over 100 members of the University of the Philippines (UP) Law faculty urged the House of Representatives to junk the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen on Monday, December 14.

In a statement, the faculty members assailed the complaint as “baseless” and urged the lawmakers to focus on more pressing matters, like policies to help Filipinos amid the pandemic.

Among the signatories were former UP Law deans Pacifico Agabin and Salvador Carlota, Ateneo School of Government dean Antonio La Viña, maritime affairs expert Jay Batongbacal, and former Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te.

“We must not allow this latest assault to send our nation further down the dark road, especially while a global pandemic still hangs over all our heads and threatens to bring our society into despair and destitution,” the faculty members said.

The faculty members added: “Overcoming the pandemic demands the undivided attention of the Executive and Legislative Branches, and the spectacle of political circuses should not distract the government from this far more important task.”

Why this matters

This comes after Ilocos Norte 2nd District Representative Angelo Marcos Barba, cousin of Bongbong, endorsed the impeachment complaint filed against Leonen by a group claiming to push for good government.

Bongbong sought and failed to push for the inhibition of Leonen in his electoral petition.

In arguing for his impeachment, the supposed anti-corruption group – which was represented by controversial lawyer Larry Gadon – claimed Leonen had a corruption and bias-ridden record in the High Court and UP Law.

The statement of support from the faculty members joins a chorus of declarations in support of Leonen. Nearly a hundred of Leonen’s colleagues, friends, and former students vouched for his integrity through a statement on December 10.

“We may not agree with everything he has written while on the Court, but we stand by his character, his integrity, and his principles,” the faculty members said. – Rappler.com

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Rambo Talabong

Rambo Talabong covers the House of Representatives and local governments for Rappler. Prior to this, he covered security and crime. He was named Jaime V. Ongpin Fellow in 2019 for his reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. In 2021, he was selected as a journalism fellow by the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.