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Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Debate rages on validity of Proclamation 1017
MANILA -- Opponents of Proclamation 1017 urged the Supreme Court (SC) Tuesday to dismiss the government’s argument that the lifting of the order has made their petitions moot.
“We are seeking declaratory judgment,” said lawyer Raul Pangalanan, “because if the court desists in issuing a ruling, it will just come back and re-litigate in another case.”
Pangalanan is counsel for petitioner Randy David, the sociology professor and columnist who was one of those arrested last February 24, the day President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of national emergency.
Arroyo warned Tuesday she would not hesitate to use emergency powers again to fight groups seeking her ouster.
Seven petitions have been filed asking the SC to declare Arroyo’s Proclamation 1017 unconstitutional.
Arroyo said Tuesday that in declaring a state of emergency, “we showed how strong and stable our government was."
“We moved swiftly and we averted violence,” she added.
But former senator Rene Saguisag likened President Arroyo’s issuance of Proclamation 1017 to moves by Adolf Hitler who, he said, “did not win through violence but by weakening the institutions in his country.”
The “mischief" of Proclamation 1017 was that the police used it as their basis in raiding and ransacking the editorial and business offices of the Daily Tribune newspaper.
“The Constitution does not mandate the media to be responsible, unlike the justices, judges or presidents, Cabinet members or other government who are mandated to be responsible,” said Saguisag, in recent years identified with opposition figures like Joseph Estrada.
“If media oversteps its bounds, there’s always the libel law, but there’s no law about inspecting a newspaper. That raid was meant to sent the message of intimidation to the entire media," he added.
David, according to his lawyers, contends that Proclamation 1017 was a “de-facto proclamation of Martial Law."
And the lifting of the proclamation last Thursday results in a situation where the President “is capable of repetition but could evade review either by the SC or Congress," said Pangalangan.
But Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo argued Tuesday that questions about Proclamation 1017 have become moot since the decree was lifted. He said the proclamation did not clip or suspend any rights and had a clear basis in the Constitution.
In the wake of the emergency decree -- which gave the government powers to ban rallies, arrest people without warrants and crack down on media -- a left-wing lawmaker has been arrested and charged with rebellion. Five other left-wing legislators are under virtual house arrest at the Congress compound.
In Tuesday’s interview, President Arroyo said she wanted to work with political opponents but will not wait for their response.
“I am not withdrawing my call for unity, but I will not use up all my time and energy for that because I need to also pay attention to the economy.”
She chided the Senate for focusing more on its planned investigation of Proclamation 1017, over its job of legislating.
She blamed “endless inquiries” by the Senate for delays in “important laws” like the additional P1,000 allowance for government workers.
Because of the delay in the passage of the proposed P13.1 billion supplemental budget, President Arroyo said she was forced to order Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. to find other ways to enable the increase.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said any investigations on the President’s declaration of the state of emergency would only end up with the same thing: “That there was a clear and present threat to national security that was nipped in the bud and contained through the timely exercise of legitimate presidential powers."
Senator Joker Arroyo, chairman of the committee on justice and human rights, said they would push through with their investigation -- even if the executive branch snubs their hearings. (AP/Sunnex/With EOB)
(March 8, 2006 issue)
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Arroyo warns she could impose emergency rule anew