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Friday, September 30, 2005
Malilong: Government takeover
By Frank Malilong
The Other Side
There is no doubt that they can; the question is whether they should. What is legal, the late chief justice Marcelo Fernan used to remind us, is not necessarily moral.
The Constitution does provide the basis for a government takeover of privately owned public utilities and private enterprises affected with public interest. But this can be done only in “times of national emergency, when the public interest so requires.” And the Constitution says that in such event, the State may, not should, take over.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the framers of the Cory Constitution were not crazy to put these provisions in the Constitution if they did not envision a situation that will need them. I agree. I also see nothing wrong in preparing for an emergency.
The question however is, what contingency are we preparing for? Is the study really meant to address a national or presidential emergency? Are we talking about public or personal interest?
Gonzalez is peeved that so many questions should be raised when all he did was perform his job. He shouldn’t. Given the serious credibility problems that the Arroyo administration suffers from, doubts on the real purpose of every move by its stalwarts are par for the course.
It did not help that the leak on the Gonzalez-commissioned study on government takeover of vital industries came on the heels of a Palace announcement that it has abandoned maximum tolerance in favor of a “preemptive calibrated response” in dealing with street protests. The iron fist is showing. Are we sliding closer to martial law?
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita tried coming to the justice secretary’s rescue but he only ended up fanning the fires of distrust further. Ermita said that even Ferdinand Marcos, among others, resorted to emergency powers.
If my memory serves me right, Marcos suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus then declared martial law. Ermita’s tacit endorsement, though understandable since he was a top-ranking military official during the Marcos years, is chilling.
Of course, it is possible that Gonzalez’s study is what he says it is for: a national emergency. If it is, then he should, when he makes his recommendation, take note of the permissive, rather than mandatory, phraseology used in the constitutional provision on government takeover.
Indeed, what makes this administration think that it can do a better job running private business even during an emergency? Experience has taught us that government is the worst business manager.
Business is the domain of businessmen, Bob Gothong says. The government should limit itself to the business of governing and leave private business to the businessmen. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
(September 30, 2005 issue)
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