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Saturday, November 08, 2003
We're no thieves: Davide daughter
A DAUGHTER of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. defended for the first time last Friday her father's decision to hire her and her brother for confidential positions in the Supreme Court (SC).
"We are not thieves like other people in government," said Noreen Davide-Salas in a press statement.
Salas is vice-chairperson of the SC performance and evaluation review committee and also sits in the health and welfare board, the executive committee for judicial reform and the praise committee.
Her brother Joseph Brian Hilary Davide serves in seven committees, including one that screens infrastructure projects of the High Court.
But deputy court administrator Jose Perez and other middle-level court officials insisted "there is no law violated" in Davide's appointment of his two children, as both hold confidential and coterminous positions.
"They are representatives of the Chief Justice and are even deterrents to corruption, by their mere presence in these committees," said SC spokesman Ismael Khan.
With only two days for a Supreme Court ruling or a Palace-brokered covenant to stop the impeachment, Lakas lawmakers are prepared to delay the transmittal of the Articles of Impeachment, two Cebuano congressmen said Friday.
Touch and go
In separate interviews, Reps. Raul del Mar and Antonio Cuenco said that while they are trying their best to convince colleagues to withdraw signatures from the impeachment complaint, the other side is also making counter-moves to gain more supporters.
"Both sides are working vigorously. For them to maintain their numbers and four us to reduce," said del Mar (Cebu City, north).
"It's touch and go. We won't know who will have the upper hand until Monday,"
Cuenco (Cebu City, south) said for his part.
But if the fate of the impeachment complaint will have to be decided in Congress on Monday, del Mar said they are also prepared to delay, if not prevent, the transmittal of the complaint to the Senate.
The two are hoping that President Arroyo's "persuasive powers" may convince the Lakas members to go along with her proposed covenant and preempt a showdown in the House on Monday.
For her part, Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th district) is willing to reassess her position on the issue, but has yet to withdraw her signature from the impeachment complaint signed by 85 other lawmakers.
Lawyer Gonzalo Malig-on, Soon-Ruiz's chief of staff and legal counsel, confirmed that Soon-Ruiz is consulting accountants and other professionals from Cebu and Manila to get a different and independent perspective.
No crisis
Senator Joker Arroyo, on the other hand, allayed apprehensions of a constitutional crisis once the House of Representatives transmits the Articles of Impeachment of the Senate.
Arroyo said the public need not worry about a constitutional crisis because, according to him, the scenario will not happen on Monday.
In a press briefing, Arroyo said the public has been made to believe that November 10 would be D-Day if the Supreme Court does not resolve the constitutionality of the impeachment complaint against Davide.
"It's unfortunate that we were made to believe that there will be a constitutional crisis. I don't think so. The picture does not look that way," Arroyo said.
According to him, whatever action the House of Representatives would do on Monday, the Senate would still be the decision-making body in the issue.
He explained that the Senate would decide whether it would constitute itself into an impeachment court. The senator also added that the Supreme Court's ruling on the constitutionality of the impeachment complaint is essential for the Senate before deciding to begin the impeachment trial.
"We will have to discuss that in plenary and we will have to discuss that thoroughly, so I don't think anything will be resolved by Monday because I'm sure there would be a long debate over that in the House," Arroyo added.
Citing the Martial Law scenario, Arroyo said public should not worry about the crisis since the issue is not considered as a matter of life or death.
He said Senate President Franklin Drilon would first get the pulse of the other senators in a scheduled caucus in which legislators would discuss whether they would constitute as an impeachment court.
But in an earlier interview, Sen. Serge Osmeņa III predicted that majority of the senators would not allow the impeachment trial to go on because the second complaint is unconstitutional.
Arroyo assured supporters of Davide that if the Senate would receive the Articles of Impeachment, the senators would not act on it immediately because they have to wait for the SC rulings.
"That's why we'll have a caucus on Monday. That's a lot of talk. To begin with the House will not transmit it because they are divided over it," Arroyo said.
On the other hand, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the Lower House can still reconsider its impeachment move if it suffers from serious flaws.
He added that if such error was committed, it could be corrected by the House while the matter is still in their hands or before the Articles of Impeachment are transmitted to the impeachment court.
Paging GMA
Both Cuenco and del Mar are also looking forward to a ruling of the Supreme Court before Congress reconvenes for a session at 4 p.m. Monday.
While there are members who might resent an SC order that declares the impeachment complaint unconstitutional, del Mar foresees that such a ruling will be the clincher for more signatures to be withdrawn from the impeachment complaint.
The Cebu business community appealed to Cebuano lawmakers and political leaders "to unite and avert political and economic instability that would ensue out of the impeachment case of the chief justice."
In a joint resolution signed last November 3, the different business groups in the Visayas also appealed to President Arroyo "to intercede in behalf of the Filipino people by uniting our political leaders to preserve the integrity of our government."
The League of Municipal Mayors, Vice Mayors' League of the Philippines and the Philippine Councilors League have also signed a joint manifesto supporting President Arroyo in her efforts to propose a covenant aimed at ending the Davide impeachment deadlock between Congress and the judiciary.
Throughout the controversy, Davide has been working as usual, although he inhibited himself from en banc deliberations on the petitions filed to stop the impeachment.
"Indignity"
His daughter, Davide-Salas, failed to appear in a press conference called by SC accounting officials Friday, but instead released a three-page statement.
"So much indignity has already been thrown at us. Many people want us to speak up but prudence sometimes dictates us not to, even if it is stupidity to some," the Chief Justice's daughter said.
Joseph Brian has kept silent. The Chief Justice earlier pointed out that his son serves as his "eyes and ears" in the SC committees, whose recommendations are subject to the approval of the court en banc.
Deputy administrator Perez also said Friday that accusations of corruption against Davide's daughter are unfair since "she only has one vote in a committee."
It is also not unusual for the Chief Justice to place his offspring in confidential positions, which Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan and Andres Narvasa also did during their watch, Perez added.
While SC officials are busy answering questions on the Davide children's appointments and the use of court funds, lawmakers against the Chief Justice's impeachment are fighting to stop a Senate trial.
Cuenco said he was with the President in Cavite Friday and she revealed that she has been calling Lakas members.
Cuenco admitted, however, that for sure, the pro-impeachment members would do their best to elevate the complaint to the Senate.
"But we will also be vigilant. We will be there at the session to demand a vote," he said.
Cuenco appealed to his colleagues who are supporting Chief Justice Davide to attend the session because if they will not be there, the pro-impeachment bloc, according to him, "can do anything they want."
He admitted that another option is not to attend the session if they find the pro-impeachment bloc won't have the numbers, so there will be no quorum.
"But Plan A is to meet them head-on," Cuenco said.
But Malig-on, Soon-Ruiz's chief of staff and legal counsel, said the opinions that the congresswoman has received, so far, were not impressive enough to make her change her mind and withdraw her signature.
Some Cebuanos whom Soon-Ruiz consulted have even advised her to push through with the impeachment.
"If she should withdraw, it should be because the issues are properly explained, not because she is being pressured," said Malig-on. JGS/With ROV/Sunnex
(November 8, 2003 issue)
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