MALAYA: CLOUDS OF POLITICAL WAR THREATEN
AQUINO
[PHOTO - VICE PRESIDENT J. BINAY]
MANILA, JULY 18, 2012
(MALAYA) Written by AMADO P. MACASAET - ('We need a
Chief Justice who can protect the President from trumped up charges and who
knows a purely political issue when he sees one.')
EXECUTIVE Secretary Paquito Ochoa and his brother-in-law, Gerry Acuzar, have
practically ensured that the Liberal Party of President Aquino will be clobbered
in next year's local elections, in the province of Bulacan, anyway.
With a little luck and more betrayal by the President's own men, the Liberal
Party can lose in the 2016 national elections to Vice President Jejomar Binay.
It appears that the supposed legal mind of Ochoa and his "real" patron,
Acuzar, are in bed in Binay who is head of the UNA.
The first sign of disaffection between Aquino and Binay appeared when 188
members of the House of Representatives impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.
The signature of Congresswoman Abby Binay, daughter of the Vice President,
was not among the 188.
Not a surprise to anyone considering that Binay was the running mate of
former President Estrada. Mar Roxas was the vice presidential bet of Pnoy. It
was like history repeating itself.
Diosdado Macapagal won as vice president from the Liberal Party. Carlos P.
Garcia, candidate of the Nacionalista Party won that election.
In the 1962 elections, the voters elected Macapagal as president but chose
Emmanuel Pelaez, a Nacionalista, as vice president.
We never learned any lesson of the benefits of block voting at least for
President and Vice President from these two weird cases. And now Mar Roxas is
the third. He lost to Binay who ran under the Partido ng Masang Pilipino of
Joseph Estrada.
If the jockeying for president in the 2016 elections has indeed begun, the
first object of brickbats will be President Aquino. He is an easy prey because
the legal minds around him are lightweights.
Without exactly saying that the President must have a Supreme Court in his
pocket, his political fate or that of his presidential bet, presumably DOTC
Secretary Manuel Araneta Roxas, will depend on the independence of the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court he has not yet picked.
At least, we should have a Chief Justice who recognizes that the separation
of powers does not allow the Court to tackle political questions. That is better
than having a decision for or against President Aquino that could be used
against him.
A completely independent Supreme Court may well be the crowning glory of the
Aquino administration since it admits playing a big role in the impeachment and
eventual conviction of then Chief Justice Renato Corona.
If this success is not properly exploited by appointing a Head Magistrate
who is well versed in the mudslinging ways of politics, two possibilities can
happen.. Before his term could expire, President Aquino could very well be
bombarded with suits that have no other purpose but to harass his government and
destroy his Liberal Party.
The LP has already lost its hold in the politics of Bulacan courtesy of his
own executive secretary and Gerry Acuzar who are said to be in complete
sympathy with Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Things like these have happened before. In politics there are no permanent
enemies. There are no permanent friends. There are only permanent interests.
Permanent interests respect no principles. Why are the Liberal party
supporters of today, such as the executive secretary, in bed with the political
opponents this early in the day?
The fact that Paquito Ochoa is bedding with the President's enemy and
continues to wield vast powers although his head is known to be weak is an omen
for the President.
For all we know trumped up charges may be filed against PNoy during his
presidency just to harass him.
More may be filed after he steps down when he no longer enjoys immunity.
A Chief Justice capable of discerning purely political -- in fact harassment
– cases can save the President and promote the independence of the Supreme
Court. Never again shall we have a Supreme Court that interferes in the choice
of a national artist by issuing a temporary restraining order against
Malacañang.
Never again should we have a Supreme Court that allowed the creation of a
separate congressional district although the number of citizens or voters in
the new district is not enough as required by the Constitution.
The Arroyo Supreme Court - probably for lack of complaints -allowed the
payment of hundreds of millions of pesos to retiring military generals as "going
away" presents.
The Ampatuans kept an armory of weapons with markings of the "Armed Forces of
the Philippines" but, again for the lack of complaints - the Supreme Court of
Gloria Arroyo never noticed the excessive abuse of the Executive Department.
All these and many more became vestiges of the past with the conviction of
Chief Justice Renato Corona. They can happen again if President Aquino picks
the wrong man for the job left by Corona.
As they say, those who do not learn from the lessons of history are condemned
to repeat them.
We need a Chief Justice who can protect the President from trumped up charges
and who knows a purely political issue when he sees one.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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