InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - Though Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson agrees with President Benigno Aquino III's statements against the Supreme Court, he thinks that the chief executive issued his criticisms in a wrong place and time.
“The message is right, but the occasion is wrong. Pero, inihayag lamang niya ang kanyang saloobin tulad ng kuwestiyonableng appointment na lampas sa itinakda ng batas,” Lacson said. [Still, he just expressed what he felt such as on the questionable appointment that was beyond what the law mandated.]
On Monday, during the first ever National Criminal Justice Summit at the Manila Hotel, Aquino, who was just a few steps away from Chief Justice Renator Corona, lashed out at the high court. He expressed his frustration over the high tribunal's decision to declare his first executive order creating the Truth Commission as unconstitutional.
Also last Thursday, during the 30th anniversary celebration of the Makati Business Club in Makati City, Aquino said that he was "puzzled and alarmed" by the high tribunal's "behavior."
The Palace and the Supreme Court have been at loggerheads since last year even before Aquino assumed the presidency.
The dispute started in May 2010 when then President Arroyo appointed senior associate justice Renato Corona as chief justice. Corona served as chief of staff and spokesperson of Arroyo when she was still vice president. He later became Arroyo's presidential chief of staff. Aquino, then the leading presidential candidate, criticized Corona's appointment as chief justice, saying it was a violation of the constitutional ban on midnight appointments.
In June 2010, during his inauguration, President Aquino broke the tradition by taking his oath of office not before the chief justice but before another magistrate, Conchita Carpio Morales, who was later appointed by Aquino as ombudsman.
Lacson warned that the rift between Aquino and Corona might be replicated in local government units.
He said the rift might for instance embolden a governor to defy a ruling by the Regional Trial Court.
“Sa municipal level, baka hindi rin sundin ng alkalde ang anumang kautusan na ipinalabas ng korte [At the municipal level, the mayor might not also follow the court's order] ,” said Lacson.
He suggested that the Legisture act as mediator between the Palace and the Supreme Court.
Senators Gregorio Honasan and Jinggoy Estrada supported Lacson's call.
“I do not want to comment on the rift between the executive and the judiciary. I just would like to volunteer, if they want me to volunteer, to act as middleman or referee para magka-ayusan na ang executive at judiciary [so the executive and the judiciary can patch things up]... Of course that might prove disastrous for our people,” Estrada said.
But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile proposed another solution. He said that it would be better if the Catholic Church would act as mediator because of its "impartial" and "apoltical" stand on the issue.
“Mas makabubuti ang Simbahang Katoliko na lamang ang mamagitan sa pagbabati sa dalawang nagsasalpukang institisyon,” Enrile said.
