Scrolling down: wonder how Amilo Lopez, a "simple" man, was the first to wage the legal fight against the proposed P18-billion joint venture; why the two court cases against it seem to be feebly pursued; and, did you know, then president Gloria Arroyo sat on the Rome Statute and it took her successor Noynoy Aquino to have it ratified by the Senate
WHY is a former barangay captain from Busay, Cebu City taking it upon himself to file a lawsuit to stop the P18-billion Kawit development?
Amilo G. Lopez, according to Mayor Tomas Osmeña, is being put up to it by Barug Team Rama, specifically by former mayor Mike Rama and Vice Mayor Edgar Labella.
Lopez was a barangay tanod for 16 years and chief tanod for five years before he ran for councilor and finished eighth, the last slot, with only one vote over the next aspirant. A protest failed and he kept his seat as councilor for 13 years before he ran for barangay captain. He served only one term and didn't seek reelection.
A website quoted Lopez as saying he is "a simple man, husband and father, coming from a family with simple background."
And this "simple" person has assumed the task of first picking up the legal fight against City Hall over the multi-billion peso venture.
Plus councilors' lawsuit
The Lopez lawsuit was followed by the civil complaint of eight Barug councilors to declare the nullity of the Kawit project and stop the joint venture.
No TRO has been issued for the Barug councilors and the signing of the joint venture agreement proceeded as if the legal wrinkle on it didn't exist or would disappear.
Barug Team Rama presumably tapped Lopez to file the petition assailing the project. Lopez's was the first salvo, with the councilors' own complaint as the succeeding assault.
Politicians usually don't show their real identities when they file lawsuits. They use surrogates who nonetheless can be traced to the politicos. Mayor Tomas Osmeña himself does it. A number of past lawsuits against opposition personalities or for BOPK causes were allegedly filed at his behest.
The opposition appears to have valid basis in questioning the passage of the Kawit project. The facts and the law tend to support its stand. But it seems to be feebly waged and might be thrown out by the court. The lawsuits can go all the way to the Supreme Court but it was to be strongly fought.
Litigation over pullout
On lawmakers going to court, some senators who opposed President Duterte's pullout of the Philippines from the International Criminal Court are the petitioners in a pending lawsuit before the Supreme Court. Tuesday (August 28), oral arguments were heard. Digong should have sought Senate approval of the withdrawal, the petitioners alleged.
When moves on the session floor fail, legislators are given the option to shift the battle to the courtroom.
GMA rejected ICC
Many Filipinos don't know that it was then president Joseph Estrada who signed the Rome Statute in 2001 but president Gloria Arroyo, who succeeded him after Edsa II, didn't forward it to the Senate. It was president Noynoy Aquino who sought its ratification by the Senate. On August 23, 2011, PH because the 117th country to adopt the Rome Statue, which puts war crimes committed here under the jurisdiction of the ICC.
GMA succumbed to U.S. pressure to have instead a bilateral agreement (BIA) with America to exempt its soldiers from ICC prosecution. BIAs as executive agreements didn't need Senate approval.
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