PNOy KEEPS UP WAR AGAINST GRAFT / PALACE IN TOUCH
W/ INC, CATHOLIC BISHOPS
MANILA, FEBRUARY 23,
2012 (INQUIRER) (PHOTO - ANTIGRAFT
WORKSHOP President Aquino presides over a Cabinet workshop on anticorruption
strategies with (from left) Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, professor Robert
Klitgaard and Edilberto de Jesus of the Asian Institute of Management held at
Heroes Hall in Malacañang on Tuesday. EDWIN BACASMAS)
Saying the justice system was a "major battleground for reform," President
Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday gave another speech that could be seen as
pushing for the removal of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Opening an antigraft workshop for Cabinet officials in Malacañang, Mr. Aquino
said his administration's graft-busting efforts would be "rendered a mockery if
certain elements are still able to prevent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for example,
from being held accountable."
"We cannot sustainably fight corruption unless we reintroduce a sense of
accountability—a sense that, if you commit a crime, you will be punished," he
said.
"If certain elements are still able to prevent Gloria Arroyo, for example,
from being held accountable then it makes a mockery of our anticorruption
efforts."
The President's allies in the House of Representatives impeached Corona in
December after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on the
government's travel ban against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,
because the government had not yet filed a formal case of electoral sabotage
against Arroyo.
Compromised
She was later formally charged before the Pasay City regional trial court.
But the President said he believed the government's case would have been
irreparably compromised if Arroyo had managed to leave the country on account of
the Supreme Court TRO.
"We want our judiciary to dispense justice blindly, as it should. And perhaps
this explains our fight to restore integrity to the judiciary, which has made
headlines everywhere," Mr. Aquino said in his speech.
No doubt
"No one should doubt our justice system is a major battleground for reform,"
he added.
The President said that while the country had made progress in fighting
corruption, the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom released by the Heritage
Foundation showed the problem of judicial inefficiency and susceptibility to
outside pressures "remain a serious concern."
"We want to send a stern yet simple message: No one evades justice. There are
no exceptions in our campaign against corruption," Mr. Aquino said. Norman
Bordadora
Palace keeps in touch with INC, Catholic Church By
Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News Posted at 02/22/2012 5:05 PM | Updated as of
02/22/2012 5:05 PM
MANILA, Philippines - Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda on
Wednesday said the Palace has "been in touch" with both the Iglesia ni Cristo
and the Catholic Church.
Lacierda did not specify which Palace officials have been meeting with the
INC and the Catholic Church and what specifically are the topics being
discussed.
He said the Palace is "not bothered" by the bible exposition to be held by
the INC on February 28, adding that it is a religious activity.
He also said Malacañang is not involved in a newspaper ad discussing the
impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. The ad is said to have been
put out by the Black and White Movement.
"Removing all technicalities, all arguments, this is what we have uncovered
so far and I think this is informing the public to be engaged and to know what's
going on in the impeachment trial," Lacierda said.
The President's spokesman earlier said Malacañang is open to discussing with
the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and INC "the merits"
of the Corona impeachment trial.
Lacierda said there is no reason to stop the impeachment trial following a
report that Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles has reservations why the impeachment
trial is continuing.
"It may not be a Biblical solution to his perspective but it is a
Constitutional solution when it comes to impeaching or removing government
officials," he said.
He said he was expecting Arguelles and retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz to bat
for the presentation of Corona's alleged bank accounts, saying this is part of
the search for truth.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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