Misplaced loyalty

Something big has happened in my country, the Philippines, recently. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was impeached. I am watching some portions of the impeachment trial through YouTube postings.
I am quite perplexed by the comments of some people on the YouTube videos. One that has really caught my attention was this "I will never forget you CJ. If I can only do something to help you, to defend you. You have been a great help to me. Whoever I am today, I owe it to you a great deal because you have let me pass your course." (my translation)
It's very worrying because it betrays a misplaced loyalty, a wrong hierarchy of values. I mean, you are grateful forever to a person who has allowed you to pass his course? Is it an indirect admission that you were not worthy to pass, that it was a passing mark for something else rather than a good work done?
It is really worrying because how can a society function well if we have our values turned upside down? I mean, you want to let a person go scott free, without weighing the facts of his guilt or innocence, just because he gave you a favor? I mean, this is very, very disturbing.
I guess this is just a reflection of what happens in society in general. Misplaced loyalties blind us, making us unwilling to see the truth. And I believe that at the root of our misplaced loyalties is our self-centredness. The criterion is no longer the truth, but the utility of something or someone to my own good. In the end, my loyalty is really to myself.
We need a strong and stable centre. We need something or someone that goes beyond our self-interests. We need something or someone that goes beyond our vacillating self.
Lord, help us to see.