MAGDALO party-list Representative Gary Alejano said that Malacañang is behind the removal of former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as it is part of their demolition against the opposition.
"It is unconstitutional. We know that the impeachment and quo warranto petition against Sereno would not prosper without the blessings from Malacañang,” Alejano said in a press conference on Saturday, May 12.
“We know that the intention is really to remove all the opposition and what happened is that our judicial independence is destroyed. Instead the Supreme Court (SC) will be having an impartial and objective judicial decision for our Filipino people, it is already destroyed,” he stressed.
He pointed out that check and balance are eroded because it followed the intervention of Malacañang.
He said he strongly believed that the decision of the SC is hard to reverse. “It is a good opportunity because we see a lot of opinions, but this is a great assault to the Constitution.”
"The moment we would not speak up and do something, it means we allow the present administration to trump upon the rights of everybody. Those who talk against Malacañang are being silenced so let us do something about that," Alejano said.
(Tax reform law)
Moreover, Alejano said he filed a resolution to review the new tax reform law.
"They said that this is for the poor with barely four months only when the law was implemented, the inflation rate has already gone up to more than four percent. All prices have jumped up,” he said.
“If you increase taxes in fuel products, everything is affected. So we want to review it early because it might harm the poor,” he said.
Meanwhile, Alejano, a Negrense himself, came home over the weekend to vote today, May 14, in his hometown, Sipalay City.
Alejano, who also announced his senatorial bid in 2019 as an independent candidate, urged the public to forget the traditional means where vote buying is rampant.
“It is time to assert our rights because if the barangay official will be corrupt, you are also to blame,” he adds.
"Let us vote for people who are deserving. If the culture of vote buying continues today, the same thing will happen when we choose our local and higher government officials. So if we see problems in our politicians, we are part of it. If we want to see new officials then let us vote for them. We should go out and vote. We should not lose our hope in government and let us do our duties,” Alejano said.