crisis
MANILA, FEBRUARY 12,
2012 (INQUIRER) With one motion, we are brought to the
brink of bedlam. When the defense lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona filed a
petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court to halt the ongoing impeachment
trial at the Senate, it also brought the Philippines the closest it has ever
been to a constitutional crisis.
The petition came as something of a surprise considering that Corona had
previously said that he had faith he would be acquitted in an impeachment trial,
but he has apparently changed his mind. The petition filed by the defense is
nothing short of provocative, as it asks the high court to impose its power over
the Senate impeachment court, asking for a stop to the proceedings through a
temporary restraining order.
Corona's lawyers have pooh-poohed any talk of a looming crisis, saying that
the filing isn't anything extraordinary and that they are only protecting the
rights of their client who, they say, is not getting a fair shake at the Senate.
Saying the petition does not pit the Supreme Court against the Senate, defense
lawyer Rico Paolo Quicho said: "What we are doing is actually a recognition of
the Constitution and a respect [for] government instrumentalities. We are just
seeking relief from the Supreme Court." Colleague Tranquil Salvador III says we
must all be sanguine about the petition. "How can there be a constitutional
crisis when we don't know yet how the Supreme Court would decide on the
petition? We don't even know if it would act on what we filed."
The response to the Feb. 8 filing was immediate and unmuted. Sen. Teofisto
Guingona III took to the Senate floor with a surprise speech warning about where
the defense filing might take us. "Many of our fellow citizens are worried …
that we will have a constitutional crisis," Guingona said, citing the defense's
petition "to stop the issuance of a subpoena from the impeachment court related
to bank deposits of the accused." Prosecution spokesman Rep. Romero Quimbo
explained that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction over the Senate impeachment
court. "The Senate leadership must carry out its exclusive constitutional
mandate of impeachment to its finality. It should not allow its power to be
emasculated by another branch," he said.
Some of the fears were further ignited when the Supreme Court granted a TRO
the next day preventing the prosecution from opening Corona's dollar accounts.
The air of unease was further increased when the Supreme Court decided to defer
acting on the defense's petition for certiorari. Now everyone waits with bated
breath.
Perhaps the most surprising thing was that the Senate impeachment court
seemed to be doing exactly what it was supposed to be doing. The senator-judges
were looking at the evidence, listening to the arguments and weighing their own
thoughts regarding the case against the Chief Justice. The accusations flew hard
and fast. The defense said this was a trial by publicity, that some of the
decisions made had no basis in law. The prosecution asked why all the resistance
if Corona had nothing to hide. But nobody expected this.
The problem now is that there is no going back. What the defense wants is
almost unthinkable. Should the Supreme Court grant a TRO against the very
impeachment trial, it would effectively state that it is more powerful than the
Senate. This is a strange development considering that the Supreme Court
justices were merely appointed to their positions while the senators were each
elected by popular vote. The senators certainly weren't going to take it lying
down. "We have the right to question it. We can't just lie down and [sing]
Alleluia," Sen. Franklin Drilon said regarding the TRO on the Corona bank
accounts. "We can't be interfered with by the Supreme Court. Otherwise, we lose
our independence."
When the impeachment trial began, it was touted as proof that the legislative
branch was equally powerful as the judicial branch; the impeachment court was
also considered sui generis – one of a kind – and that it was proof that the
Philippine government's system of checks and balances actually worked.
Now that system is being tested like it has never been tested previously.
Whatever happens next, these will be days of uncertainty and doubt. Will the
Supreme Court impose its power on the Senate? Will the Senate impeachment court
retain its independence and finish the Corona trial? Will our democracy emerge
intact or irreparably damaged? It is now in the hands of the high court.
Meanwhile, the Senate is caught in a dilemma while a nation awaits the next big
twist in its surprising history.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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