/ NOY: I CAN'T BE GAGGED ON TRIAL
MANILA, FEBRUARY 21, 2012 (PHILSTAR) By Christina Mendez - Amid the
word war between President Aquino and Chief Justice Renato Corona, senators are
calling on the two top officials to spare the public from the spectacle of
divisiveness.
Senate majority leader Sen. Vicente Sotto III and senators Gregorio Honasan,
Francis Pangilinan, Loren Legarda and Joker Arroyo urged both parties to
exercise self-restraint.
Sotto said it was improper for both camps to malign each other publicly, with
Corona even asking the President to prove that he is mentally fit to govern the
country.
"Not only improper but also unbecoming of their stature," Sotto said.
Sotto conceded it appears that nobody is daring enough to intervene to stop
the two from taking the issue before the bar of public opinion instead of just
letting the impeachment trial take its course.
"Who will caution them? Who can advise them against going to the public? What
can we do? We have brought our country into this mess? Now, I am just voicing my
opinion," Sotto said.
"Your question is: is it improper? I say, it is unbecoming. A councilor, a
mayor or even a senator can resort to such acts, but as far as the Chief Justice
and the President are concerned, it is not pleasing to the public eye. It's not
good," Sotto said.
Honasan, for his part, said President Aquino could not be faulted for saying
his piece on the issue, and Corona for defending himself.
"The President is making statements, I don't fault him… also the same with
the Chief Justice, the defense and prosecution camps... the senator-judges, and
even the opinions of a hundred lawyers and constitutional experts... The
practical question is: can we hold anybody in contempt? The answer is no," he
said.
But he stressed it would be best for both officials to stop talking about the
case outside the impeachment court.
"We are talking about the President who espouses his tuwid na daan (righteous
path) and his campaign against graft and corruption, and the Chief Justice who
is protecting his name and his honor. Can you blame any one of them?" Honasan,
however, said the word war between Aquino and Corona could be taken as sign of a
"vibrant" democracy. He said that while Aquino has advisers, "he speaks his own
mind."
Malacañang said President Aquino was just asserting the need for reforms in
the judiciary in his tirades against the Chief Justice.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said Aquino is not
engaging in a proxy war with his predecessor, former president and now Pampanga
Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
"Why would it be a proxy war? Why has the nation come to this point? Because
it's about the system of justice; it's about reforming – it's about correcting
systemic errors which is hard if you have someone at the top who apparently does
not subscribe to that idea of judicial reform. That is all there is to it,"
Valte said.
Aquino had said that the executive branch's fight with the Supreme Court
began when it issued a temporary restraining order on the travel ban against
Arroyo, which would have allowed her to escape from the various charges filed
against her.
Based on some analyses, Corona's acquittal could lead to Arroyo's release
from jail on charges of electoral sabotage because she could get a favorable
ruling from the SC on her petitions.
Corona's acquittal could also weaken Aquino politically when he was just on
his second year in office.
Valte also stressed the President was not lawyering or aiding the House
prosecution team whose performance in the trial has been widely criticized.
She defended Aquino's right to speak about the issue before the public as the
trial had been filled with legal jargon and technicalities.
Asked if the President should stop making public statements about Corona's
case to stop the word war, Valte said Aquino only felt that the public was
"being excluded because of the legal technicalities, the obstructions that have
been coming out" and he felt he had to simplify the issue before the public.
"The President felt the need to simplify the issues which, again, is very
simple: If you look at it, you (Corona) declared these (assets), more is coming
out by the day, why is that so?" Valte remarked.
Valte said Aquino wanted the public to continue to be vigilant and monitor
the developments in the impeachment trial.
She said almost everyone had been talking about the merits of the case and
this could not be helped because the trial was being done publicly.
"What you have to also understand about the President is that he is very
frank. He will not hesitate to simplify issues when he feels that one side is
already doing legal cartwheels just to convolute or to confuse the evidence that
is supposed to be coming out," Valte said.
Repercussions
Asked if he thought the President was going too far in his tirade against the
Chief Justice, Sotto said "it is not proper for us to comment on that."
"We remain impartial, but I have heard the views of some airing the same
observation," Sotto added.
As majority leader, Sotto said he would not rule out the possibility that
some of his colleagues might bring to the impeachment body the issue of the
raging media war between the two.
Sotto said he was worried about how the international community would view
the issue.
Pangilinan also expressed belief that self-restraint is key to ending the
word war between President Aquino and Corona.
"It would be best for the process to have both the executive and the
judiciary to exercise self-restraint," he said.
Pangilinan said he believes the Senate does not have to remind the two of the
repercussions of their actions.
For her part, Legarda called on both camps to just let the Constitutional
process take its course. "I hope both camps will desist from doing so (fighting
in public) because it does not send a good signal to the youth and our people
and to the investors that top officials are squabbling publicly," Legarda said.
Legarda urged both camps to "let the impeachment court be the venue of these
allegations."
Honasan and Sotto said that while the impeachment trial is a long and tedious
process, the public should make sure that it is concluded properly, either with
an acquittal or conviction.
They also called for sobriety and patience. The two senators said the people
have become more circumspect in dealing with issues like the impeachment trial
in view of lessons drawn from two people power revolutions.
"This (hearing) would go on further, we haven't even heard the defense,"
Sotto said.
Senate power
But despite the clashing opinions on issues raised in the impeachment trial,
one thing is indisputable: The Senate has the sole power to try impeachment
cases, according to Honasan.
"Nothing, nobody can stop this trial… we will do this every day… until we
have reached a verdict," Honasan said.
"This is not a competition between the Supreme Court (SC) and the Senate.
This is not a test of political will between the SC and the executive… This has
gone beyond the legislative and the executive, it is about the Constitution and
how we should respect it," Honasan added.
Sotto said that while he is not happy with President Aquino's attacking
Corona publicly, he remains optimistic that majority of the 23 senator-judges
will remain impartial since the body has yet to hear all testimonies of
witnesses.
Sotto estimated that about 10 senators are not allowing themselves to be
affected by developments outside the impeachment court.
While some senators' questioning during the trial may give a hint of how they
will vote, Sotto expressed belief his colleagues will never be swayed by
political pressures.
Enrile noted that the Corona impeachment case would be decided upon by 23
senator-judges with independent views on the case.
Sen. Arroyo, meanwhile, expressed disappointment over Aquino's continuous
attacks on Corona.
He said the verbal tussle between the officials was sparked by Aquino's
challenging Corona to open his dollar accounts before the impeachment court,
instead of seeking relief from the SC.
Arroyo said Malacañang should adopt a hands-off policy and stay neutral in
the impeachment process to allow the Senate to carry out its mandate. – With Aurea Calica
P-Noy: I can't be gagged on trial By Delon
Porcalla (The Philippine Star) Updated February 20, 2012 12:00 AMComments (33)
[PHOTO - The President in Baler, Quezon, the home province of the
family of Sen. Edgardo Angara as guest]
MANILA, Philippines - The President is also entitled to his own opinion.
With this line of reasoning, President Aquino yesterday slammed calls for him
and Chief Justice Renato Corona to exercise restraint in their simmering word
war while the impeachment trial is ongoing.
"I think I am within my rights to express my opinion. I speak for a sizeable
number of our people. That's the essence of a democracy. Contending ideas should
be threshed out in a marketplace of ideas," he told Palace reporters in Baler,
Aurora.
"To keep quiet about the whole thing is – I think – wrong. Time to time I
reserve my right to be able to say what I believe should be said to the people,"
Aquino said, justifying the fighting words he uttered against the chief
magistrate last week.
"A democracy is the majority deciding for everybody and you cannot decide
properly if there is no discourse within the contending sides in any issue," the
only son of democracy icons Ninoy and Cory Aquino said.
The Chief Executive was in the home province of the family of Sen. Edgardo
Angara as guest at the 33rd foundation anniversary of the province and the
commemoration of the 124th birth anniversary of Doña Aurora Aragon-Quezon, wife
of the late former President Manuel L. Quezon.
Aquino said he will continue to respond from time to time to developments in
the impeachment trial or accusations hurled against him as he sees fit.
"I initiated this latest discourse. I did not respond to a lot of his
scurrilous attacks in various fora," Aquino said, adding that his tirades were
not a direct affront to Corona as a person, but on the judiciary's flawed system
as a whole.
"This is not directed at Corona personally, but at the system of which he is
the personification. He is the face of what we have been fighting for that the
judiciary system should be fixed," he said.
Aquino, meanwhile, also expressed satisfaction with the Angaras – Sen.
Edgardo Angara and his son, Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara – for their respective
roles in the impeachment trial of Corona.
He said he is confident in the "cold neutrality" of the senator as one of the
senator-judges in the impeachment trial.
He also said that he was impressed with the performance of Rep. Angara, one
of the prosecution's spokesmen.
"There are those who tend to becloud the issue with their statements. But
Congressman Sonny has adequately explained the issue surrounding the
impeachment. He is also for the straight path," he said.
TRO defeats purpose of impeachment
Meanwhile, the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines
(AMRSP) expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court's decision to prohibit
the opening of Corona's dollar accounts.
The AMRSP, an assembly of 275 women religious congregations, believed that
the SC's issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) last Feb. 9 defeated
the purpose of an impeachment hearing, which is to learn the truth.
"This issuance of the temporary restraining order by the Supreme Court is
indeed disappointing since the impeachment trial is an invaluable political
process to restore, renew and strengthen the integrity, transparency and
accountability of the judiciary and Philippine governance," the AMRSP said.
What is doubly disheartening, according to the group, was the acquiescence of
the senator-judges who voted to obey the SC order.
By following the TRO, the religious superiors said, the senator-judges
acknowledged "the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over them but it is clear in
the Constitution that the Senate Court is supreme in matters regarding
impeachment."
"And the only question they should have asked themselves before voting was:
Will the TRO serve to discover the truth or will it hinder it?" the AMRSP added.
Corona has been questioning the constitutionality of the impeachment trial,
arguing it is a violation of his human rights.
The AMRSP also criticized Corona for his alleged lack of delicadeza in asking
the SC justices, who are directly under him, "for protection and solace."
Far from being a battle between the judiciary and the executive branches of
government, the impeachment trial "is a political process to protect the
integrity, transparency and accountability of a democratic government, (and)
essentially, (that) of CJ Corona," the group said.
"We therefore implore Chief Justice Renato Corona to listen to the stirrings
of truth, justice and respect the Senate Court and the impeachment proceedings,"
AMRSP said.
It also urged the senator-judges to remain firm in their task of pursuing the
truth while maintaining their independence as an impeachment body.
"Each and every Filipino citizen is asked to act with integrity, to maintain
a sense of decency and honesty, and to be held accountable for actions which
have grave ramifications on the common good. We ask no less of Supreme Court
Chief Justice Renato Corona," it added. – With Manny Galvez,
Evelyn Macairan
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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