|
Thursday, February 19, 2004
SC assures Poe of just decision
By Benjamin B. Pulta
MANILA -- Tension hung like a dark cloud over the Supreme Court (SC) compound in downtown Manila Wednesday, a day before oral arguments on the disqualification case filed against opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP).
Some 30,000 supporters of Poe are expected to mass up in Plaza Miranda, Quiapo, Manila Thursday morning to declare their support to their idol whose citizenship is being questioned.
SC en banc Clerk of Court Luzviminda Puno urged everyone involved to "be calm" in the light of reports that supporters of Poe will hold a "spontaneous combustion of sentiment" if the High Tribunal's ruling would be adverse to Poe, who is popularly known as FPJ.
Anti-riot policemen have been deployed to Padre Faura and Orosa Sts., which border the SC, since Monday in anticipation of possible rallies.
Puno said up to 13,000 policemen will be fielded around the SC compound Thursday as the High Court hears the petition against Poe.
Puno also said under a 1998 resolution "no demonstration is allowed within a 200-meter radius" of courthouses.
"The SC is sure to decide what is just," Puno added.
President Arroyo also appealed to Poe's supporters to police their ranks and observe law and order when they stage their rally on Thursday.
The President assured the rallyists that maximum tolerance would be observed as police detailed in the area would be there to maintain law and order.
Manila police chief Pedro Bulaong said about 2,000 riot police were on standby for the protests, while the military said a 1,500-strong "disturbance management team" had been mobilized.
Armed forces spokesman Lt Col. Daniel Lucero also warned several retired generals who have voiced open support for Poe not to encourage soldiers to take any action "beyond our constitutional mandate."
"Pinoy si FPJ" movement spokesperson lawyer Ed Araullo said their assembly would start at 8 a.m. at the University of Sto. Tomas Espaņa gate.
Meanwhile, a newly-formed group called Youth for the Rule of Law (YRL) Thursday revealed that some people have been fanning out in Metro Manila slum areas to recruit slum dwellers to join rallies in the event the SC will rule that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino.
YRL is a coalition of student councils, youth groups, campus papers, fraternities, academic clubs, from 200 schools nationwide, and was launched in Manila Thursday.
Amici curiae
Puno said the sequence of the speakers during the oral arguments Thursday will be the amici curiae (friends of the court) followed by the petitioners and then the counsel of the respondent.
The four amici curiae invited by the Tribunal to shed light on the matter are retired SC Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza, Constitutionalist Joaquin Bernas, law professor Ruben Balane and former Foreign Affairs Usec. Merlin Magalona.
Representing Poe are former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza and
election lawyer Sixto Brilliantes.
Supporters of Poe have called on the SC to issue a non-partisan decision on the case.
People's Movement Against Poverty (Pmap) spokesman Ronald Lumbao Wednesday said the SC "must be doubly sure that its decision will not destroy the very society it is sworn to uphold."
"We cannot stand idly by to witness our new hope for a brighter future for the masses melt like wax just because of trumped up charges," Lumbao said.
Meanwhile, Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said it is to the advantage of everyone if the rally is kept peaceful and orderly.
Bunye also reiterated that Arroyo had already stated her opinion on the issue, which is that Poe is a Filipino and she would simply await the decision of the Supreme Court on the issue.
The court is to decide whether Poe, born in 1939 to a Filipino father and an American mother, is a "natural-born Filipino citizen" as required by the constitution for presidential candidates.
The court is to hear two separate suits seeking to have Poe excluded from the election on citizenship grounds.
A pro-Estrada group that took a key role in the May 2001 disturbances said that the poor were closely watching developments in the Poe case.
In the latest opinion poll ahead of the May 10 election published Monday by the Manila Standard, Poe polled 39.1 percent of the vote compared to 31.3 for Arroyo.
Poe's candidacy has alarmed the business elite because he has never held public office, but the high-school dropout is wildly popular with the masses because he is the country's most famous film star.
Both Poe and President Arroyo, his main election rival, have urged the film star's supporters to remain calm, while the military also warned them against inciting a military coup.
Press reports said Poe supporters were planning a "human chain" of protesters from a northern Manila roundabout to the Supreme Court to put pressure on the judiciary.
The government fears a repeat of the rioting that engulfed Manila in May 2001, shortly after Estrada--a close friend of Poe--was ousted in a military-backed popular revolt and put on trial for corruption.
Poe, known by his initials FPJ (Fernando Poe Junior), called for sobriety.
"I would like to make an appeal to the supporters of FPJ to remain calm and steadfast," Poe spokesman Francis Escudero said.
"Have faith and belief in our justice system as well as the magistrates of the Supreme Court that justice will be served and that the truth will be the basis of whatever decision that will be made," he added.
With reports from JMR
(February 19, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
