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Monday, October 27, 2003
Pablo: Lawsuit to help Davide
By JEANETTE P. MALINAO & LORENZO P. NIÑAL
Sun.Star Staff Reporters
THE impeachment trial of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. can still be prevented two ways.
First, by enjoining the secretary of the House of Representatives from transmitting the complaint to the Senate.
Second, by asking the legislators to withdraw their signatures from the complaint.
Cebu Gov. Pablo Garcia will send out invitations today to all concerned Cebuano groups—businessmen, lawyers, judges and non-government organizations—for a meeting in his office to discuss the filing of an injunction or prohibition against the House secretary before the Supreme Court (SC).
Garcia does not want to file the petition alone to avoid the perception that the move is politicized.
“It will be unfortunate if we allow the Senate to have a circus again, with our co-probinsyano on trial. It can be avoided. And I condemn all those who signed the complaint,” said Garcia, a congressional veteran.
In a separate interview, Rep. Etta Rosales (party-list, Akbayan) said the legislators, including two from Cebu, who signed for the impeachment can still “correct their mistake” by withdrawing their signatures.
Rosales said these legislators are making a “mockery” of the impeachment proceeding by coming up with another impeachment complaint when the first is still pending.
Rosales accused business tycoon Danding Cojuangco and his Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) of “harassing” Davide and the judiciary.
She expressed support for the anti-impeachment protest brewing in Cebu, and called on the rest of the nation to follow suit.
“I appeal to the Cebuano legislators: please stay on the side of people’s rights,” Rosales said, citing Reps. Nerissa Ruiz-Soon (Cebu, 6th district) and Ace Durano (Cebu, 5th district) among those who signed for Davide’s impeachment.
“Cebuanos and the rest of the country should fight for the rule of law and in the interest of justice,” she added.
Outrage
As to the filing of an injunction or prohibition, Garcia said the Supreme Court had made a pertinent ruling. There is no other body for the case to be filed, and the High Court could “not evade acting on it.”
“There’s a precedent. And there’s no other battleground for any unconstitutional act against anyone,” Garcia told Sun.Star in a telephone interview.
Provincial Board Member Antonio Almirante Jr. also disclosed that he learned from Rep. Simeon Simeon Kintanar that a similar petition is being studied by deans of all the law schools in Manila.
Garcia hopes the move will come from Cebu, Davide being a Cebuano. The governor also noted the “feeling of outrage” in Cebu with the impeachment.
The Cebu Provincial Board is expected to file today a resolution of support for Davide. A similar resolution is expected in Mandaue.
If Garcia is able to meet the groups by tomorrow afternoon, the petition can be drafted within the week. He believes there is still time for it because Congress will hold a recess for the All Souls’ Day celebration and resume sessions by the third week of November yet.
There’s a strong constitutional ground for the petition, said Garcia, who also called the complaint an act of “pure harassment.”
Danding’s hand
In a visit to Cebu yesterday, Rosales said the second impeachment complaint against Davide is unconstitutional since the procedure for the first complaint, although it has been deemed insufficient in substance, is not yet completed.
Also, the Constitution only allows one impeachment “proceeding” in one year against an impeachable official.
The legislators should have exhausted all available means in the House in looking at the alleged anomalies involving Davide and the other justices, instead of resorting to an impeachment, she added.
Also, the Commission on Audit (COA) is one agency that could have decided on matters concerning alleged misuse of funds by Davide. If COA itself will be found inept, then the House can always investigate the agency, Rosales said.
She said the impeachment is Cojuangco’s way of hitting Davide in relation to the many cases the businessman is facing in court, some pending before the Supreme Court.
Rosales enumerated at least three cases against Cojuango pending before the SC, five criminal cases before the Ombudsman and two before the Sandiganbayan. Many of these cases have something to do with corruption in relation to the coco levy fund controversy.
By understanding these cases Cojuangco is facing, one begins to understand the political context of the impeachment move, she said. |
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