A cacophony of discordant voices were echoed over the issue of proposing amendments to the 1987 constitution to clip the powers of the Supreme Court and to allow the President Benigno Simeon Aquino to run for a second term. The 1987 constitution allows amendments to the constitution. It is within the power of the legislative branch to…
Watching some senator-judges participate in the trial of CJ Renato Corona and the media spin after every trial, brings to mind the foreword of one educated Filipino novelist, F. Sionil Jose in his book: “It is so easy to point out who the achievers are, as well as show who clearly how our society hoists the…
It was not only Atty. Enriqueta Vidal, En Banc Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court who experienced great discomfort in trying to protect Chief Justice Renato Corona while testifying on January 18, before the Senate. The defense team also keeps turning and twirling to control the damage occasioned by the release of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth…
A week before the impeachment trial of CJ Renato Corona, I emailed Congressman Neil Tupas, Jr., through his House website. My email could have been routed to his “spam” folder because I have not received any response; or simply, the team thought that they have every base already covered hence an outside help is not needed. But…
Whatever goodwill Senator Juan Ponce Enrile had earned during the first day of the impeachment proceedings totally evaporated today when he ruled that the motions for “subpoena duces tecum and ad testificandum” filed by the prosecution against the family of Chief Justice Renato Corona are covered by “self-incrimination clause,” “marital and familial privilege” and therefore the Senate cannot issue the subpoenas. …
Nothing much can be achieved in the impeachment of CJ Corona even if successful in the Senate except to sear in the public memory that a radical change in the leadership of the Supreme Court, touted before as the “untouchable” branch of the government is but a myth. But surely, it will not alter the present dynamics…
Honorable Senators sitting as impeachment court, ladies and gentlemen in the galleries, citizens of the republic and friends. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, and President of Pixar, in 2005, five years before he died said: “Don’t be trapped with dogma, which is living with the results of others’ thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’…
Where the Supreme Court exercises its duty under the constitution, it is called “rule of law” but when Congress exercises the same function in accord with the same constitution, it is called “the mother of all blackmails”. It was a politically charge atmosphere in the House yesterday and Congressman Edcel Lagman cannot hide his displeasure over the decision…
The battlefield had been drawn, the war drums tapped; and swords unsheathed. An epic battle between a corrupt Supreme Court with a very low public rating and a very popular president is unfolding. You can predict the outcome. But victory will come only if the jurists whose reputations had been tarnished by injudicious partisan rulings, resign…
I cannot properly situate myself over the decision of the SCORP, declaring EO No. 1 creating the Truth Commission by President Aquino, unconstitutional, much that I would like to take side on the issue. Creating the TC headed by EX-CJ Hilario Davide, Jr., and retired Justice Romeo Callejo Jr. to investigate GMA, is like choosing…
Viewpoint Neutral 