SUDDEN GESTURE OF PEACE / NO ROOM FOR MEDIATION W/ SC
MANILA, DECEMBER
9, 2011 (MANILA TIMES)
Written by : JAIME PILAPIL REPORTER - On Thursday, Malacañang, in a
sudden gesture of peace, said that President Aquino (photo) was willing to meet
with Catholic bishops who had offered to mediate in the word war between the
President and Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona.
The day before, it rejected the offer, saying that the bishops were clueless
on where Mr. Aquino was coming from when he publicly attacked Corona for being a
"midnight appointee" of then-President Gloria Arroyo.
"We are open to [the suggestion] to talk to the bishops. It will not be the
first time that this administration will hold talks with the judiciary. Remember
when the budget issue was raised, no less than Budget Secretary [Florencio] Abad
talked to the Supreme Court to settle the dispute," Palace spokesman Edwin
Lacierda said.
Yet, Lacierda still defended Mr. Aquino's tirades against Corona.
"As far as we are concerned, what triggered the President's open criticism of
the [SC] was when the SC issued a temporary restraining order [TRO] on the watch
list order [WLO] of the Justice department," he said, dismissing views that the
President started insulting Corona after the SC ruled that Hacieda Luisita
should be distributed to farmers.
Hacienda Luisita, a sugar estate, is owned by Mr. Aquino's family.
Lacierda was referring to the TRO on the WLO on the day Mrs. Arroyo tried to
leave the country.
The former leader failed to fly to Singapore after the Commission on
Elections filed before a Pasay City (Metro Manila) court an electoral sabotage
case against Mrs. Arroyo, who was then served a warrant of arrest.
Mr. Aquino earlier said that he could not comprehend the ruling of the SC on
the constitutionality of the appointment of Corona by Mrs. Arroyo a few days
after the May 10, 2010 elections.
He questioned other rulings of the High Tribunal that overturned earlier
ones, such as the legality of the creation of additional cities and the creation
of Dinagat Island as a province, among others.
The President, however, did not mention the Hacienda Luisita case, wherein
the SC earlier ruled that the stock distribution option for the farmers was
legal, only to rule later that outright distribution of hacienda lands to the
farmers was the only option open to the Aquinos.
Lacierda clarified that the President recognized the "fact that Chief Justice
Corona is already the sitting Chief Justice."
On a reported move of Mr. Aquino's allies in the House of Representatives to
impeach Corona, the spokesman said, "I will not hazard anything further other
than what the President had said."
Doomed A dialogue between the President and Corona is doomed, Sen. Franklin
Drilon said also on Thursday.
He explained that Mr. Aquino would just insist that the High Tribunal's
decisions were "very partial and influenced" by ties of the Chief Justice with
Mrs. Arroyo.
While the SC, according to Drilon, would "never admit that its decisions are
biased and it will just [also] insist that its decisions are based on law."
He said that even the Catholic Church, if it mediated, would only be facing
problems because the issue was "not a question of policy where you can find a
middle ground." WITH REPORT FROM RITCHIE A.
HORARIO
FROM THE DAILY INQUIRER
Liberal Party cool to talks with Supreme Court; Aquino party
sees no room for mediation By Christian V. Esguerra, Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:39 am | Friday, December 9th, 2011
Senators belonging to the ruling Liberal Party (LP) are not keen on
the proposal for mediation between President Benigno Aquino III and the Supreme
Court led by Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Senator Franklin Drilon (photo), the vice chairman of the party, on Thursday
told reporters that it was "extremely difficult to look for a middle ground" in
the mediation proposed by some members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of
the Philippines.
Drilon said that while the President had indicated an openness to a dialogue,
"the difficulty in the situation is that the Supreme Court insists that its
decisions are in accordance with the law."
"So if I am the mediator, I will not know where I will start," he said.
Drilon pointed out that the conflict between the President and the high court
did not arise from "a difference in policy, where you can mediate," but from
"the perception that the Supreme Court is not up to its task of being an
impartial arbiter of disputes."
"I cannot see how you can mediate this dispute between the Supreme Court and
Malacañang," he said.
Instead of endorsing the mediation proposed by some bishops, Senator Francis
Pangilinan reiterated his call for Corona's inhibition from cases involving
former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who
named the latter to the post of Chief Justice in a "midnight appointment."
"The key issue in the clash between the executive and judicial branches is
the string of controversial rulings that have placed grave doubt on the fairness
and impartiality of the court," Pangilinan, the Liberal Party's vice president
for external affairs, said in a statement.
"Many of these rulings have prevented the executive [branch] from pursuing
its commitment to addressing pervasive corruption and exacting accountability
and justice," he said, adding:
"These highly questionable rulings cannot be the subject matter of mediation
or conciliation or talks. I may be mistaken, but I am afraid that at this point,
any talks between the two branches will just be for show, or pakitang tao
lamang, and will not help address the problem."
Trigger was TRO
Supporters of the Supreme Court argue that Corona, despite being the Chief
Justice, is good for only one vote in the 15-member chamber.
To this, Drilon said: "That might be the theory, but the decisions do not
confirm that theoretical premise."
Pangilinan said Corona's inhibition would "help" ease the tension triggered
by the President's series of public attacks against the Chief Justice and the
high court.
According to Mr. Aquino's spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, it was the temporary
restraining order (TRO) that the high court issued on the travel ban on Arroyo,
and not its ruling on the distribution to farmers of Hacienda Luisita, the sugar
estate owned by the Aquino-Cojuangco clan, that served to renew the conflict
between the executive branch and the judiciary.
"The trigger point really was the TRO," Lacierda said yesterday at a news
briefing. "The TRO compelled us to think, Why is the government being prevented
from presenting their side?"
The TRO, issued on November 15 by the high court on a vote of 8-5,
effectively lifted the travel ban on Arroyo. But Justice Secretary Leila de Lima
insisted that Arroyo's inclusion in the immigration watch list remained in
effect pending the justice department's receipt of a copy of the TRO.
Lacierda would not comment on suggestions that the President was laying the
groundwork for the impeachment of Corona, saying Mr. Aquino had yet to disclose
his plans on the matter.
But Lacierda did say that it would not be the first time for an impeachment
complaint to be brought against a Chief Justice. He cited the impeachment
proceedings against then Chief Justice Hilario Davide, and a similar case
against a chief justice in the United States.
Impeachment an option
Ronald Llamas, the President's adviser on political affairs, said Corona's
impeachment was "an option" when asked whether Mr. Aquino was laying the
groundwork for it in questioning the Chief Justice's appointment a week after
the May 2010 elections.
"Regarding impeachment, it is always an option but it is to be exercised by
Congress and not by the executive [branch], consistent with the Constitution,"
Llamas told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a text message sent from Geneva,
where he was attending a United Nations conference.
Pressed if Corona's impeachment was an option that the executive branch had
with the help of its allies in Congress, Llamas said: "What I mean is that it's
a course of action available under and sanctioned by the Constitution."
"We defer to the leadership of Congress at this point—whether they'll decide
to pursue it or not," he said.
In his recent speeches, Mr. Aquino questioned the haste with which the
Supreme Court granted the Arroyo camp's petition for a TRO on the ban on her
travel abroad, and harped on its reversals of its decisions that, he said, led
to uncertainty and made effective governance difficult.
Llamas said Mr. Aquino was merely articulating "widely held sentiment."
He added: "The President has been consistent from the start in his position
on the Chief Justice's midnight appointment.
"Overwhelming public frustration with the court's decisions, particularly
with regard to efforts to hold abusive public officials from the previous
administration accountable, only shows that the apprehensions regarding the
Chief Justice's appointment were well-founded."
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved
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