Monday, January 15, 2007 Lawmaker hits 'political bullying' v. opposition members
SENATOR Franklin Drilon on Sunday condemned what he termed as "unlawful and shameless political harassment" by the Arroyo administration after the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it would soon serve dismissal orders of opposition local government executives, including Iloilo Governor Neil Tupas.
"This is even worse than martial rule," Drilon said, noting that Tupas, a member of Liberal Party (LP) which the senator chairs, was being threatened with dismissal by the DILG on alleged graft charges even without the benefit of a formal investigation.
"The Arroyo administration is making a mockery of the Constitutional guarantee to due process and a fair and speedy trial," Drilon said. "Contrary to the claim of the DILG, Governor Tupas has not been formally investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman on the supposed graft charges against him. How can there be a dismissal order against him?" he added.
Drilon said they were surprised by the announcement of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. and DILG Undersecretary Wencelito Andanar that suspension orders will be served on Tupas and Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad, who is also identified with the political opposition, on Monday.
He said any attempt to unseat Tupas by the DILG "would be illegal since the prohibition mandated by the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) on transfers and suspensions of local officials and employees during the election period has already taken effect."
"They cannot claim that it is a dismissal order based on a criminal (graft) case because if they do that, Gov. Tupas would be denied his Constitutional right to due process and fair trial. And that is against the law and the Constitution," he said.
The senator revealed that several Malacañang "political operators" have been trying to convince Tupas in the past months to abandon Drilon and the LP and join the Arroyo administration. However, the Iloilo governor has remained steadfast with his political convictions, he added.
Drilon said Malacañang was applying "unlawful and shameless political bullying" tactics against Tupas after realizing that the administration-backed Lakas and Kampi political parties could not find a legitimate candidate who can defeat Tupas as Iloilo governor in the coming elections.
In a statement, Andanar did not give details of how the DILG would serve the dismissal order on Tupas, but said it is up to the DILG provincial director in Western Visayas to enforce the order against the governor. (CPB/Sunnex)
