Noynoy eyes street protests vs Supreme Court ruling

Source: Philippine Star


ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan , Philippines – Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said he is prepared to take to the streets to protest a Supreme Court ruling allowing President Arroyo to appoint the next chief justice despite an election ban on midnight appointments.

“That is one of the avenues we are exploring, but there are others. But the other avenues have to wait for the composition of the new Congress so the chief justice can be impeached,” Aquino said.

“I was the first to question the midnight appointment of a chief justice and I was criticized from the very beginning, when they were just floating the idea. But our position has not changed. We think it is a wrong decision,” Aquino said.

Aquino had said that if elected president, he would not recognize the appointee of Mrs. Arroyo. He said the next Congress may impeach an illegally appointed chief justice.

He said LP lawyers decided not to appeal the SC decision because a belated intervention like what the Nacionalista Party (NP) did might no longer be given credence by the High Court.

“We are helping those who already filed the appropriate petition and also help by means of moral support,” Aquino said.

LP senatorial bet Franklin Drilon said NP’s filing of a motion for reconsideration was “a welcome move but a little too late.”

“People might perceive the move of the Nacionalista Party as riding on the issue. That could be the perception,” Drilon said.

No balls

The NP, meanwhile, scored the LP for belittling its filing of an appeal.

“Ang kapal naman ng mga mukha nila (it’s shameless for them) to say that the filing was pure gimmick. They only have the gall to say that because unlike me, they haven’t done anything concrete in defending the rights of all Filipinos,” lawyer and NP senatorial candidate Adel Tamano said.

“They don’t have the balls. All they do is talk. That’s all they’re good at. They have mastered the art of pure talk,” Tamano said. “Do something solid. Don’t just complain.”

He said he found LP’s reaction befuddling considering that his motion for reconsideration was meant to benefit Filipinos.

“(This) only goes to show who really is sincere in serving the country,” Tamano said. “The Liberal Party says that they’re part of the opposition and yet they’re not doing anything that could stop PGMA in appointing someone as chief justice, which is such a crucial role,” he said.

He pointed out that allowing the President to make an appointment despite the ban would send a wrong signal to Filipinos.

“Not only does it undermine judicial independence, it also destroys the image of the judiciary. Kawawa naman ang (Poor) Liberal Party if they don’t understand this,” Tamano explained.

“It is my fervent hope that you will come to realize that the Constitution should be upheld at all times,” said Tamano, a constitutional law professor and the first Filipino-Muslim scholar-graduate of Harvard Law School.

Tamano led the NP senatorial bets in filing a motion for reconsideration last Monday.

They stressed in their petition that under Article VII Section 15 of the Constitution, there is no exception for appointments in the judiciary.

They also argued that the recent SC ruling was in contrast with a 1998 decision on the Villarta and Valenzuela case, which barred the President then from appointing members of the judiciary within the period covered by the ban. The ban starts two months or 60 days before the elections and runs until June 30.

Not surprised

Malacañang said it was not surprised by NP’s filing of a motion for reconsideration.

“This is not at all surprising because these senatorial candidates are part of one of the opposition parties. They belong to one of the opposition parties so their action is certainly understandable within the context of campaign politics,” deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said.

Olivar lamented that the argument raised by the opposition revolved more around political issues than legal ones.

The opposition has claimed that the SC’s decision is part of a bigger plan to make the May 10 elections fail and justify Mrs. Arroyo’s holding on to power beyond June 30.

People power?

Aquino said subverting the wish of Filipinos for a peaceful transition of power might trigger another popular uprising.

“If they feel their will has been thwarted, I am sure they will again retake the sovereign will unto themselves,” Aquino said.

But he stressed it might be premature to entertain people power at the moment.

“It’s up to the Comelec (Commission on Elections) whose responsibility is to run the elections and to make the process meaningful, worthwhile and reflective,” he said.

“Mahiya sila (They should be ashamed), after nine and a half years they cannot manage a peaceful transition,” Aquino told reporters after a mass oath taking of new LP members here.

“If you design a situation of instability, you are playing with the lives of 95 million people. This is not about rumors, this is about the lives of people,” he said

“We should be making their lives better and not put (their future) at risk,” Aquino added.

He said recent developments had been sending “mixed and very dangerous signals” to Filipinos.

He called on the administration to “promote the idea that we are a stable country and (will have) peaceful transition of governance.”

“Speculations are unnecessary for our people already suffering (from) power shortages and so many other things. And they have barely recovered from (tropical storm) ‘Ondoy’ and (typhoon) ‘Pepeng’,” Aquino said.

For Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros and another LP senatorial candidate Martin Bautista, there is still hope for Mrs. Arroyo to redeem herself.

“Redemption is still possible. It is not too late. Mrs. Arroyo, don’t run for congresswoman of Pampanga, and don’t (name the next chief justice),” Bautista said.

Hontiveros said Mrs. Arroyo should also have missing activist Jonas Burgos surface and be reunited with his mother. Burgos, son of press freedom icon Joe Burgos, has been missing since 2008 after being abducted by unidentified men in a busy mall.

“If we believe there is truly a resurrection in Easter, let us hope she will regain her moment of sanity, as in 2002 when she admitted she was a divisive force and said she would not run for election,” Hontiveros said.

Bautista said Mrs. Arroyo was innately good, having been a graduate of a Catholic school in the Philippines and a Jesuit university in the United States.

“Your effectiveness as leader is inversely proportional to your stay in office,” Bautista said.

Meanwhile, Malacañang lashed out at Aquino for raising the scenario of people power in case of failure of elections, saying he and other opposition leaders “appear to have developed an unfortunate addiction to Edsa adventurism.”

“It’s no longer people power we’re talking about here. It’s nothing but a naked threat of power grab in case the voters turn them down at the polls,” Olivar said.

He said Filipinos have grown tired of “unconstitutional shortcuts no matter how well-intentioned.” With Paolo Romero, Eva Visperas, Evelyn Macairan, Christina Mendez and Marvin Sy