Fr. Rolando V. Dela Rosa, O.P. By Fr. Rolando V. Dela Rosa, O.P.   We often boast that our country is governed by democratic ideals and the rule of law. The way things are going, it seems that this is turning into a myth. Aristotle, an ancient philosopher, warned that if the majority of people are ignorant of legal intricacies, democracy deteriorates into a game of numbers, and the rule of law is supplanted by the rule of lawyers. Our unqualified glorification of the rule of law today has made judicial courts the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong, and the sole authority for determining a person’s guilt or innocence. The voice of conscience has been conveniently ignored or muted. So in our time, we still have to see high-ranking government officials admitting that they have enriched themselves while in office, or one big fish in the illegal drug trade voluntarily surrendering to authorities. Even when the evidence against them is overwhelming, they declare without blinking: “My conscience is clear. I leave it to the court to decide on the merits of my case.” Parroting the “rule of law” like a mantra, they use the courts as a refuge and a shield. They hire topnotch lawyers and, as usually happens, they go scot-free even if they are guilty. Such perverse interpretation of the rule of law is also carried over to our practice of democracy. Democracy in the Philippines has been reduced to a numbers game. During elections, for instance, even unqualified candidates win because they have the numbers — mostly coming from voters who are ignorant, bribed, cajoled, or threatened. In the legislature, it is obvious that the game of numbers reigns supreme. After a series of vociferous debates and discussions, decisions are made simply by a show of hands. As expected, the noisy majority who serves as a proxy of political lobbyists working for the administration and other pressure groups, always gets the numbers needed to win their cause. I remember when the Senate impeached the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, only Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago (bless her soul) showed a modicum of mercy when she refused to convict him and instead declared, “Removal by impeachment is a stunning penalty, the ruin of a life.” Her words were prophetic, but these fell on deaf ears. Like vultures smelling blood, the frantic majority who were beholden to the powers that be, swooped down on their prey, rollicking in a media-fueled feeding frenzy. Will history repeat itself in the embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno? The tyranny of numbers is just what we need to push democracy over the cliff. Democracy rests on foundations that are not only legal or numerical. To quote David Kelley of the Atlas Society:“The fundamental factor in democracy are the objective moral standards that govern our sense of fair play; the ideals that shape our sense of what is good.” John Paul II’s timely advice is also worth heeding: “Democracy cannot be idolized to the point of making it a substitute for morality.”