PRESIDENT'S SPEECH 'QUITE DISTURBING' / AQUINO INVITING MOB RULE - SOLON
MANILA, DECEMBER 5, 2011 (STAR) By Edu Punay (PHOTO - President Aquino is shown with (from left) Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francisco Villaluz Jr., Chief Justice Renato Corona, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo at the 1st National Criminal Justice Summit held at the Manila Hotel yesterday. WILLY PEREZ)
Several justices and judges took up the cudgels for Chief Justice Renato Corona yesterday, describing President Aquino's tirade as "quite disturbing."
They said they were bothered by this latest broadside delivered at an event "where cooperation and coordination were being solicited as necessary between and among the stakeholders of the justice sector, if we are to make our justice system more effective."
Several members of the judiciary who participated in the 1st National Criminal Justice Summit took offense at Aquino's words against Corona, saying these were "uncalled for."
"What is considerably unusual is for the Chief Executive to look down on members of the judiciary in public at a justice sector coordinating council session, and to their faces denounce the court's independent actions, as the chief justice sat speechless, motionless and expressionless because of the requirements of protocol," they said in their statement read by Supreme Court (SC) spokesman and Court Administrator Midas Marquez in a press conference.
"While it must be recognized that the three coequal branches of government have a system of proper checks and balances, it must likewise be recognized that no one department has an overruling influence over the other, regardless of how popular one branch is at a given period of time. The accumulation of all the powers in the same hands, whether of one,
a few, or many, and whether appointed or elected, may justly be the very definition of tyranny. Perhaps too, the invocation of proper checks and balances must have the proper setting, circumstances and decorum," the statement said.
Still, they vowed to continue to interpret the law and uphold rule of law based on the Constitution.
"We must, however, always be reminded, not of the individual significance of the justices, including the chief justice, but of the institutional importance of the Supreme Court in our constitutional democracy."
Marquez said the statement of the judiciary was issued through consultation with justices of the SC, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals and judges from first and second level courts – especially those who witnessed the incident.
He said he solicited the reactions of officers and members of the judiciary and bared that they considered pulling out their contingency from the summit.
"They felt sad and unfortunate about what happened," he lamented.
Corona keeps cool
Meanwhile, Corona has kept his cool in the middle of public bashing from the Chief Executive.
Corona told reporters "Just let it be. It's almost Christmas anyway. Let's think of peace,"
when sought for an answer to the President's criticisms on rulings of the SC unfavorable to the administration's reform programs.
Marquez revealed that the chief justice was not aware they would come up with such a statement. "It's not the chief justice speaking, it's the judiciary," he said.
But Marquez stressed that they consider the President's tirade as both a personal attack on Corona and also on the judiciary as an institution.
Asked if they believed the President's tirade could be related to the SC's ruling ordering the distribution of Hacienda Luisita, the sugar land estate owned by his family in Tarlac, Marquez suggested: "Go study the pleadings of OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) and find out what their arguments were."
Still, members of the judiciary lauded Corona for displaying proper decorum during the incident – as opposed to Aquino's lack of it.
Aquino and Corona shook hands twice during the event. The President left immediately after his speech.
Even the President's most popular Cabinet member, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, was impressed by the SC chief's decorum.
"I think he is very cool, very calm. I think that's really the personality of the chief justice. We give it to him – that he remained very professional," she told reporters in an ambush interview.
De Lima believes the attacks on Corona and the judiciary were intentional on the part of the President.
"The objective of the President is to continuously make the people aware and be conscious of these issues and to rally the support of the people. If he needs to be very strong about it and very firm in his
language and very forthright about what he thinks and what he feels about the whole issue, that is precisely his right and prerogative," she said.
Ironically, De Lima signed a declaration with the chief justice after the summit where they vowed to "work together, respecting the independence while acknowledging the interdependence of the three
branches of government and the constitutional bodies, in the pursuit of a just and peaceful society."
Act of recidivism
Opposition lawmakers warned yesterday that President Aquino is inciting the people to disregard the Supreme Court, the last bulwark of the country's democracy.
House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said Aquino's speech "was really an act of recidivism" as he did the same in his remarks before the Makati Business Club last week.
"Now he did it again, but this time in the presence I think of the chief justice no less, so that is completely uncalled for and that was a criminal justice summit to get the cooperation of all sectors and here comes the President again pontificating on his favorite issue, bashing the SC and persecuting the former president," Lagman said.
He said the attacks would not only adversely affect the relationship between the executive branch and the judiciary but also erode the confidence of the people in the SC.
"That is a very bad example for a President to do because once the political departments have lost the confidence of the people, it's only the judiciary which could bind together the people," he said.
Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said Aquino is doing "mind-conditioning as to how the people should treat the judiciary."
"By coming up with adverse statement against the judiciary is already trying to foment people to distrust that institution and because they are also afraid that if they lose a lot of cases in the SC it's not because the SC ruled based on the rule of law but based on partisan politics," Magsaysay said. With Paolo Romero
FROM THE TRIBUNE
Aquino inviting mob rule — solon By Charlie V. Manalo and Angie M. Rosales 12/06/2011
With his incessant bashing of the judiciary, a ranking leader of the House minority bloc yesterday accused President Aquino of inviting mob rule against the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court (SC).
In a press briefing, Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said Aquino, instead of "exciting his audience through his economic platforms to help stave off financial disaster," has been inciting the people to mob rule against the members of the SC.
"Last week, President Aquino spoke before members of the Makati Business Club (MBC). Whereas he was expected to report on his economic platform which could excite the business community, he lashed at the judiciary instead," said Suarez. "Yesterday, he again bashed the SC in front of the Chief Justice himself."
House Minority Leader, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said Aquino has focused too much on the judiciary-bashing that people now suspect he might have a hidden agenda.
Lagman said Aquino's action might result in a constitutional crisis which should be prevented at all cost.
The opposition leader also lamented it was ironic that while the Aquino administration "respects the decision of the Supreme People's Court of China" imposing the death sentence on a Filipino who tried to smuggle 1.4 kilos of heroin in 2008, the same Aquino administration disregards the Philippine Supreme Court's decision to allow former President Gloria Arroyo to travel abroad for medical treatment.
"While the Aquino administration defers to China's "legal processes" and concedes that "the decision of the court is final", it defies our own Supreme Court's temporary restraining order (TRO) which was immediately executory prohibiting the implementation of the DoJ Circular No. 41 and the Watch List Orders issued by Secretary Leila de Lima against the Arroyos," said Lagman.
"It is alarming that while the Aquino administration submits to the jurisdiction of a foreign forum which forfeits the life of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), it refuses to accord recognition to an order of our Supreme Court which upholds civil liberties and protects the life and rights of a Filipino former Chief of State," the solon stressed.
Zambales Rep. Milagros "Mitos" Magsaysay said she is inclined to believe that Aquino might be thinking that, as president of the country, he is entitled to do anything he wishes.
Also, some senators, wary of the escalating hostility between the Executive and Supreme Court, want Congress leaders to "mediate" before the situation gets worse and prevent so-called mob rule.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, however, is not keen on the idea of getting in between the two colliding parties saying a neutral body such as the Catholic Church would be in the best position to do the mediation work, rather than Congress leaders.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, expressed belief that it's high time that to put an end to the rift between the Executive and Judiciary and a third party should step in to stand as their arbiter.
"This is getting to be a well-publicized rift and it's not doing the country any good. I think they should sit down and hold talks," Estrada said in an interview with reporters.
Estrada said: "They could probably hold a private meeting between the two heads, from the judiciary – SC Chief Justice (Renato) Corona and President Aquino....I would like to volunteer. If they want me to volunteer, to act as middleman or refereee to iron things out because this might prove disastrous to our people," he said.
Lacson, in a separate interview with reporters, admitted that while he acceded to the message the Chief Executive wanted relayed to the public and the Judiciary, "it was done on the wrong occasion."
The senator, a known political ally of Aquino said it was only apt for Corona give such reaction despite being at the receiving end of the President's tirades, if only to lessen the tension between them.
The senator expressed concern over the possibility of "mob rule" eventually prevailing in the end due to the conflicting positions of the two said branches.
Lacson and Sen. Gregorio Honasan said that any effort to hold a dialog or a meeting, should be carried out behind privately, sans any media coverage."But from where I sit, it is not good for our people and again the international community to witness these protracted tension among three branches of government. Let's say that we succeed in raising these issues and we erode the credibility or the impartiality of the highest court in the land, what are the alternatives? Who are we going to turn to for resolution of facts? That's the mandate of the Judiciary.
"So I suggest, an unsolicited advice through their leaders, a dialog away from the glare of cameras and public attention so that it can be resolved expeditiously in whatever manner at all costs. What is at stake is what we considered as due process and this rule of law is supposed to be procedural and predictable.
"The more people you involve, the more you make it public again. Nothing prevents the leaders or Whether Aquino has been violating some constitutional provisions, is a matter of legal study, Enrile said.
"You know, different opinions come from the different branches of government as part of check and balance. In the end, the one that will interpret the Constitution is the Supreme Court. That's their mandate.
"The President is entitled to his position as a head of the Executive branch of the government, to criticize what he perceived to be not in accord with the Constitution. But in the final end, it's the Supreme Court that interprets it," he said.
Still, Enrile said there should be a certain degree or level that should be observed in making tirades, especially if this already violate the independence of the three branches of government.
"That's why I said in the morning, you have to expect a dynamic democratic debate in democracy. We must tone down the rhetoric," he said, referring to his speech delivered in the same event attended by Aquino.
As to the idea of mediating, Enrile thumbed down the idea saying those who will carry out such role could be held in contempt.
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