THE Ateneo de Manila University Law School Student Council said Thursday that Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano has “fallen short” of the ethical leadership expected of him as an alumnus of the school.
This comes after Cayetano’s law school batchmates issued a similar statement regarding his role in last week’s Senate incident that saw his ally, fugitive senator Ronald dela Rosa, evade arrest by virtue of a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Dela Rosa is being implicated as the chief implementer of the bloody drug war of former president Rodrigo Duterte that has allegedly resulted in extrajudicial killings.
“When our alumni serve in public office, their conduct inevitably reflects upon the values their alma mater claims to uphold. Consequently, when Atenean lawyers appear to defend impunity or undermine the great mechanisms of accountability, it behooves the Ateneo community to express our disappointment,” the student council said.
“In this light, the Ateneo Law Student Council believes that Senator Alan Cayetano fell short of the ethical leadership expected of him as an Atenean. His actions disappoint those students who look to alumni of this institution for examples of principled leadership. Furthermore, his commitment to impunity is a mockery of the Ignatian values that we were all taught to hold dear to the core of our hearts,” it added.
Ateneo student leaders called on the Senate president to reflect on his actions.
“We call on Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, an alumnus, to reflect on whether the conduct now being defended in the Senate is truly worthy of the principles of Truth (Veritas), Integrity (Integritas), and Justice (Justitia) that Ateneo Law stands for,” they said.
The student council also called on Sen. Ronald dela Rosa to “cease his evasion of international legal processes and to submit himself fully to the lawful mechanisms designed to address the allegations against him.”
“We call on the Philippine Senate to honor its constitutional mandate, to resist the temptation of institutional solidarity at the expense of institutional integrity, and to refuse to become a sanctuary against accountability,” they said.
“The rule of law is not self-enforcing. It depends on institutions that take it seriously, on lawyers who live it, and on communities who demand it. The Ateneo Law School Student Council exists within that chain of responsibility. We are not naive about the limits of a student statement. But we are equally clear about the cost of silence. To say nothing in a moment like this is itself a choice, and not one we are willing to make,” they added.
In a related development, poets and artists under Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda’s Kislap Diwa cultural project voiced their displeasure with their patron's actions, dissociating themselves from the senator.
“A senator who invokes the language of culture has now joined a bloc whose inaugural act was to shield an individual from international justice. She has done so in silence. Whatever her reasons, the effect is plain: she has lent her name and through her, a portion of ours, to a Senate that has chosen to be a refuge rather than a forum... Championship of the arts is not measured by past patronage. It is measured by the courage to stand against political convenience when it is costly to do so. On this, the Senator has failed,” they said in a statement.
“We therefore formally disassociate ourselves from Senator Loren Legarda. We do not consent to our names, participation, or work under Kislap Diwa being used as part of her cultural legacy or in support of her political conduct. We will not accept further invitations to appear, read, or be honored in any capacity associated with her office,” they added.
Last week, Legarda’s photo was taken down from the Wall of Women Empowerment at her high school alma mater, Assumption College San Lorenzo in Makati City.
