CHURCH, ARROYO CAMP TURN UP HEAT ON AQUINO
MANILA, APRIL 22, 2011 (STANDARD) by Christine F. Herrera - PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III came under attack from opposition and Church officials ahead of the Holy Week holidays, with one former archbishop calling him anti-Christian and unfit for marriage.
In the House, Minority Leader Edcel Lagman accused Mr. Aquino of making the senators act like Pontius Pilate by using public opinion to pressure them into convicting Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in her coming impeachment trial before the Senate.
Former Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz told the ANC News Channel that the 51-year-old bachelor President might be too old to get married, citing Church data that showed people who got married after 40 were likely to have an unstable union.
On Monday, Cruz described the President as "childish" and "anti-Christian" for declaring he was willing to be expelled by the Catholic Church for supporting the responsible parenthood bill.
He also said Mr. Aquino was "not known for his wisdom."
The opposition intensified its attacks after the President criticized his predecessor, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, in speeches before graduating students at the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University.
Lagman said Mr. Aquino's trial by publicity against Gutierrez through his campus speeches violated the Constitution.
By actively, publicly and incessantly campaigning for the Ombudsman's impeachment, Lagman said, the President had violated the Constitution because only Congress had the power to impeach and convict impeachable officials.
"The President has no constitutional role in impeachment proceedings," Lagman said, noting that Mr. Aquino had already "invaded the exclusive prerogative of the House" when he mobilized his Liberal Party to impeach Gutierrez.
"Galvanizing public opinion for the conviction of the Ombudsman intrudes on the constitutional authority of senators to solely judge the culpability or lack of culpability of the Ombudsman," Lagman said.
Maria Elena Bautista-Horn, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Arroyo, said Mr. Aquino's "malicious and vicious personal attacks" against his predecessor was to cover up his inability to stem rising poverty, hunger, inflation, unemployment and corruption.
Horn said whenever the surveys showed a big dip in the President's popularity and performance ratings, the administration deflected it by attacking Mrs. Arroyo.
Mrs. Arroyo had kept silent in the face of the President's personal attacks so that Mr. Aquino could lay out his plans for the country. But increasingly, the lack of direction was becoming apparent.
Almost a year after Mr. Aquino was elected, his administration had yet to produce a definite economic road map or medium-term plan, Horn said.
"Many Filipinos have lost optimism, but whenever the surveys show a big dip in the leadership's popularity and performance rating, the regime deflects it by attacking the previous President," she said.
"Filipinos are getting poorer and hungrier by the day. Now is the time to address this problem. We are waiting for action."
----------------------------------------------------------
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
