Would justice be judiciously served now that Renato Corona is out of the judiciary?

Not so for Ramon Patriarca who must still face trumped up charges of rebellion while locked up in the stockade of the AFP-Central Command. He, like the 167 political prisoners across the country, must continue to endure cruel punishment and degrading treatment as the proverbial wheels of justice turn grindingly slow. He and the rest of political prisoners in the country must endure continued deprivation of their basic rights for having been tagged as “enemies of the state.”

Would the new Supreme Court magistrate look kindly at their plight and institute restitution on the wrong done them?
For Ramon Patriarca and other victims of state persecution, that would be long on coming. They know whoever lead the courts would be doing so at the behest of those who appoint them. They know as matter of factly that our entire justice system is predicated on the stability of the status quo and at stifling the voices of dissent.

But no high walls, barbed wires, and prison bars could stop the clamor for justice. Even in the dark and damp stockade of the AFP-Central Command, a voice calls out for a stop to political repression. In this military dungeon, Ramon Patriarca has been demanding that he be returned to a regular civilian detention facility. He has been demanding freedom not only to himself but to all political prisoners.

To emphasize his calls, he has launched a hunger strike. Since June 1, 2012, he has declined rations and subsisted only on fluid.

Here is another opportunity for the current justice system to redeem itself. It could demonstrate sublime magnanimity in effecting equal protection of law by at minimum returning Patriarca to regular detention. Or it could celebrate in its function as a mere tool of powerful if it continues play dumb to the just demands of the persecuted. (Dennis Michael Abarientos)