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Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Palace hit for 'pressuring' court on people's initiative
MANILA -- Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. on Monday lashed out at the Arroyo administration "for trying to cover up its shameless lobbying" with the Supreme Court (SC) on the people's initiative petition.
Pimentel was reacting to the justice secretary's advice to Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and other members of the high tribunal to avoid the media and to refrain from commenting on the alleged pressure the court is getting from some parties.
In response, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said administration critics should stop speculating on supposed pressure being exerted by Malacañang on the courts, especially in the handling of high-profile cases like the people's initiative petition of Sigaw ng Bayan and Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap).
He also said the administration respects the independence of the SC.
Pimentel rebuked Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales Jr. over his statement that Panganiban should keep quiet on the reported efforts of advocates and opponents of the people's initiative to amend the Constitution to pressure the SC into favoring their side in the pending petition on the issue.
"The mores of the country have indeed changed. Here is the secretary of justice who needs all the advice in the world to stick to the job of doing justice to the country instead of justifying the misdeeds of his boss, the President, giving the Chief Justice an unwarranted advice to avoid nosy reporters," he said.
Pimentel expressed dismay over reports that the lobbying has reached a point wherein the choice of the next Chief Justice has become a bargaining chip of the administration to solicit affirmative votes for the Charter change petition.
For his part, Senator Richard Gordon said the Palace, as well as House Speaker Jose de Venecia, must give the SC due respect. He asked Malacañang to stop pestering the high tribunal.
Gordon said De Venecia's call for the justices to change history by approving the people's initiative was "contemptuous of and disrespectful to the court."
This appeal to the SC justices, according to maverick Senator Joker Arroyo, was an "an act of desperation" on the part of the Palace and de Venecia.
Senator Edgardo Angara echoed a colleague's prediction that the SC vote on the initiative "would be a close one" but stressed that the arguments against it far outweighed the arguments for it.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, meanwhile, called on the nominees for the next Chief Justice to consider inhibiting themselves from deciding on the people's initiative petition.
Pangilinan said if any of the aspiring justices who may have voted in favor of Malacañang's position is appointed Chief Justice on December 7, it may have an adverse effect on the credibility of the SC.
At the House of Representatives, one of the major key proponents of Charter change and an avid supporter of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asked his colleagues in the administration bloc not to react anymore to the issue.
Cagayan de Oro City Representative Constantino Jaraula said it would be better to leave the justices alone. Jaraula, a prime mover of Charter change and chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, urged all parties to respect the fundamental and vital role of the justices of the high tribunal in resolving the issue at bar.
Nevertheless, Arroyo's allies have continued pressing the high tribunal "to heed the public clamor."
They also hit at members of the opposition in the Senate, whom they accused of exerting undue pressure on the high court to rule unfavorably on the people's initiative petition.
House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin chided Pangilinan, in particular, for his statement calling for the inhibition of SC justices who are aspiring for the position of chief justice.
He said Pangilinan's call was "unnecessary and improper" because it sought to put a negative motive to the decision of an SC justice to support the people's initiative.
The SC justices, Salapuddin added, have handled numerous cases but there was no instance where any justice was told to inhibit for fear or compromising his position due to a desire for personal advancement.
Secretary Gonzalez, who had asked Panganiban to keep quiet about the pressure being exerted on the court, said the acts of President Arroyo and House Speaker Jose de Venecia tending to influence the members of the SC to give the people's initiative a chance could not be called lobbying, unless it is done in private.
He said the President's ardent pitch for Charter change during the SC-sponsored Global Forum on Liberty and Prosperity last week was just an affirmation of the state's policy statement for constitutional reform.
"A speech is not lobbying if it only expresses an opinion. It's not contemptuous. Besides, it's done in public. The President and Speaker de Venecia were just pushing for the state policy. If it's done in private, then that's another matter," he said.
He also said the President's statement was not uncalled for and should not be considered pressuring.
As for de Venecia, Gonzalez said the House Speaker was invited as a guest in that event and he was just stating his own appeal for Charter change but not necessarily to influence the magistrates.
Presidential spokesman Bunye said Malacañang does not need to exert such pressure since the judges of the SC are not insensitive to the clamor for political reforms.
He said constitutional reform has been and would continue to be part of the administration's agenda "but this should never be construed as a command upon the people or the courts."
Bunye also said the 2007 election would push through as scheduled.
He said the no election scenario of President Arroyo's election lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, is his mere personal opinion.
Cabinet secretary Ricardo Saludo, in the weekly Kapihan ng Bayan at ther Sulo Hotel, said they would await the decision of the SC on the people's initiative expected to come out within the week. The parties to the case however have 15 days to file an appeal and a final decision is likely to be made in about a month's time.
Regardless of whether the final decision is issued this week or in one month, Saludo said there is still time to hold the plebiscite.
Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio, for his part, said in a text message the consolidation of the administration's alliances at the local levels is the administration's only preparation for 2007.
Claudio said the process includes preventing or diffusing conflicts among coalition leaders and candidates.
He also said if the Supreme Court (SC) rules in favor of a people's initiative, the administration would campaign for the overwhelming ratification of a shift to a unicameral parliamentary system.
"Whether or not this pushes through, we want to be prepared for general elections with the goal of winning more congressional districts and local government seats," he said.
He said a strong party organization at the district, local, and barangay levels "will spell victory for the administration in case of a national, senatorial, or parliamentary election." (CPB/JMR/DBP/ECV/Sunnex)
(October 24, 2006 issue)
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