Future Possibilities of the Internet

Towards the next dictatorship: PNoy on the road to becoming as powerful a president as Ferdinand Marcos was 

Chief Justice Renato Corona

Ironies of ironies. PhilStar columnist Valeria Avila observes Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is on his way towards becoming "the most powerful President" of the country -- as powerful as the late former President Ferdinand Marcos who at the height of his power had full control over the Supreme Court and the Legislature.

For the sake of discussion, when they successfully remove the Chief Justice (mind you, impeachment is not a criminal trial, rather it is a political exercise) who then would appoint the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? Yup! You answered correctly, it is Pres. PNoy who will now appoint the new Chief Justice and consequently, that man or woman would now be biased for President Aquino. With this, the dismantling of democracy has begun!

When that situation takes place, you can be sure that when the case vs. former Pres. Arroyo would reach the Supreme Court, she would literally hang… after all, these Justices would no longer be an independent collegial body, but “tutas” of the President who would now be the most powerful President of this country just like the times of Martial Law. When all this takes place, you can already second-guess what would happen to the Hacienda Luisita case … they would ask for a motion for recon and it would be granted in a jiffy! We are headed in very dangerous waters here.

Meanwhile, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco resigned from the Liberal Party citing dismay over what he describes as not just a railroading but a "runway"-like expediting of the filing of an impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

He said what compelled him to resign is the fact that the House leadership told the members that the complaint is "non-debatable."

"Ang pinakamasakit dun eh nung sabihin nila that this is non-debatable. Bawal ang magtanong," he said.

He pointed out that the spin doctors of the Palace are making it appear that it is between Mrs. Arroyo and President Aquino.

"Pinapalabas nila dito ay si Chief Justice Corona ay bata ni GMA kaya kapag 'di bumoto sa impeachment ay bata ka ni GMA," Tiangco said.

He also said that the Chief Justice should fight the complaint to maintain the independence and integrity of the Supreme Court.

Facing the public for the first time since the impeachment complaint was lodged in the House of Representatives, Corona affirmed that he will remain as Chief Justice and fight the complaint.

[Corona] called Aquino’s campaign a “baluktot na daang matuwid.” (crooked righteous path

With his black-clad supporters chanting “CJ! CJ! CJ!” Corona expressed his indignation against the administration that, he said, seeks to imply “malice” and “fallacies” against the whole of the Supreme Court.

In the usual approach used by the Aquino camp since the presidential campaign, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda in response to Corona's speech challenged the emerging perception that the Aquino administration was on its way to turning into a dictatorship harked back to the days when the Aquino family were "victims" of a dictatorship...

"The whole speech a while ago was designed to identify President Aquino with a dictatorship, and I think he has no right to identify or accuse Aquino of a dictatorship. The Aquino family is a victim of dictatorship in the 70s and 80s," he told Malacañang reporters.

Look who's laughing all the way to the bank...

GRP Shorts: Towards the next dictatorship: PNoy on the road to...

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

MANILA (Updated) -- The trial on impeachment complaint filed by the House of Representatives against Chief Justice Renato Corona will likely start next year with the Senate set to take Christmas break Wednesday, a lawmaker said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said there is no more time to convene this year to act on the impeachment complaint, as the Senate will adjourn on Wednesday for Christmas break. It also cannot hold session outside the legislative calendar.

More than half of the members of the House of the Representatives affixed their signatures to an impeachment complaint against Corona on Monday.

"For me, we have already no time. I don't know about my companions here. We will tackle that when we resume in January. We will adjourn on Wednesday under our legislative calendar," Enrile said.

Chief Justice Renato Corona

The impeachment complaint was ready when the House majority bloc emerged from a caucus Monday afternoon. Bayan Muna party-list Representative Teodoro Casiño said it was a "foregone conclusion" that the complaint will get enough support at the House to be carried and transmitted to the Senate for trial.

The complaint needed 96 votes -- a third of 287 members -- to dispense with committee hearings and determine sufficiency in form and substance in the complaint. At 188, close to twice the required number, the impeachment complaint will be brought straight to the House in plenary.

The complaint accused Corona of allegedly betraying the public trust through his "partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration"; failing a constitutional requirement to disclose his net worth; and failing to meet a constitutional requirement that members of the judiciary "be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence."

Also included in the complaint are culpable violations of the Constitution when the Supreme Court stopped the House from moving on an impeachment complaint against former ombudsman Gutierrez, and another for reversing decisions on the creation of 16 new cities and the province of Dinagat Island.

Corona also allegedly betrayed the public trust by removing from the House its power to impeach when it created a committee that cleared Associate Justice Mariano Del Castillo of plagiarism. He has also been accused of graft for failing to account for the Judiciary Development Fund and Special Allowance for the Judiciary.

Corona's most recent ground for impeachment is his alleged betrayal of the public trust by granting Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a temporary restraining order on a Justice department order keeping her from leaving the country for medical treatment.

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said the impeachment complaint was the "mother of all blackmail" since members of the House were threatened that their Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations would be withheld.

Assistant Minority Leader Ma. Milagros Magsaysay, meanwhile, said the quick move against Corona is a threat to the rule of law. She said the government is going after members of the Judiciary one by one.

An impeachment complaint against Del Castillo, who has been accused of plagiarism and intellectual dishonesty, is also pending at the House committee on justice. The committee is listed as the complainant in the plunder case against Corona.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said all that is left is for the complaint to be included in the order of business, or agenda, of the House and to transmit it to the Senate.

Once received by the Senate, it will then convene into an impeachment court to try Corona.
Under the rules that the Senate adopted for the aborted impeachment trial of former ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, the Senate will then summon Corona and give him 10 days to answer the complaint.

It will not be a walk in the park for President Benigno Aquino III and his allies to oust Corona, a political analyst said Monday.

"The Senate is, by far, a 50-50 proposition. With this, it's difficult to get a two-thirds vote (15 out of 23) to remove Corona as Chief Justice," Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute of Political and Economic Reform, told Sun.Star.

Only four senators are members of the Aquino-led Liberal Party: Senators Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Ralph Recto and Teofisto Guingona III. Those who have signified support for the President on several issues are Senators Panfilo Lacson, Sergio Osmeña III, and Antonio Trillanes IV.

Senators Joker Arroyo, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Miriam Defensor-Santiago, and Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile may run against the Palace interests.

Both Santiago and Enrile blasted calls for Corona to inhibit on cases involving Arroyo, who was accused of rigging the results of the 2007 senatorial elections.

Santiago had said asking Corona to step aside would violate the principle of independence of the judiciary.
The Palace has also distanced itself from the impeachment complaint, with Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte calling it an "independent move" by the House.

"I am not saying it is uncalled for. We know what necessitated the response, but at this point, we do not know where it came from. At this point it is surprising to see the response," she said.

She said although the President has taken swipes at the High Court over its decisions, particularly the grant of a temporary restraining order to Pampanga Representative Arroyo, there had been no orders to impeach the Chief Justice.

She also denied that there is a government campaign to destabilize the judiciary, as claimed by Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marques.

"We fail to see how it (impeachment) can be equated to as a demolition of the judiciary or its independence. It's constitutionally provided for," she said.

Speaking to Supreme Court employees Monday morning, Corona said he is ready to take "more determined steps in the coming days" with regard to a looming ouster plot.

"I am here. I am not going anywhere. I am your defender and most of all, I am your Chief Justice," he said. "Together we will face these challenges and fight all who dare to destroy the court and our system of justice under the Constitution."

A signature campaign in Cebu is also seeking the ouster of Corona,whose installation as Chief Justice sparked debate in 2010. He still has seven years to go before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

He will outlast Aquino's term which will end by 2016.

In a related development, Former Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros, one of the co-convenors of the Bantay Gloria Network, dismissed the destabilization attempt against the High Court. (Virgil Lopez/Jonathan de Santos/Jill Beltran/PNA/Sunnex)


Senate runs out of time to act on impeach plaint, lawmaker says | Sun.Star

President BS Aquino said the criticisms hurled against him is a lot of hogwash (walang katuturang patutsada) against his handling of the Gloria Arroyo caper. He said that his administration is only engaged in serving the ends of justice against those who stole money from government and that they deserved to be punished. Well and good if the ends of justice that he talks about is treating everyone fairly and equitably. But from his speech, which he delivered at the NBI’s 76th anniversary, he showed that his only concern is to persecute the officilas of the previous government with former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the number one culprit. He did not mention that justice must also be served against his kaibigan, kaklase at kabarilan (KKK) who are involved in several offenses during the incumbent BS Aquino administration.

Take for instance those involved in the bungling of the hostage incident. Because of the death of several tourists from Hong Kong and the lone hostage taker, in order to get to the bottom of the fiasco, BS Aquino created a task force headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to inquire who among the government officials were responsible in allowing such to happen which resulted in the death of several tourists. The task force came up with the recommendation to file charges against the perpetrators and several other officials who were identified as very close to him, either as his kabarilan, kabarkada or kapartido. The report was turned over to the office of the President for immediate action, however, nothing has been heard of since. People are asking, was justice served in the death of the Hong Kong hostages? Of course not, because no one was haled to court. In fact one general who was principally identified as responsible, was even promoted. And even the eager-beaver Secretary of Justice did not even do anything about it when it was her duty to bring the accused to court and prosecute them.

In another instance, a kabarilan of President BS, Virginia Torres, who heads the LTO was caught tresspassing and taking over a private office owned by Stradcom. Charges were filed against her and the Department of Justice (DoJ) investigator found probable cause to charge Torres for criminal and administrative offenses, but it seemed her kabarilan BS Aquino interceded and prevented the prosecution of the case. Why? Because Torres is a friend and his KKKs are sacred cows in his administration. So was justice served in this case? Of course not. Torres is back on her saddle and she’s riding high.

What about the loss of about 3,000 container vans at the Port of Manila and MICP. The loss of the said containers caused the non-collection of taxes in the tune of hundreds of millions of pesos. BS removed Commissioner Lito Alvarez from office, showing that he had committed offenses against the government together with the other Custom officials.

But have you heard of cases filed against Alvarez and the other officials for this smuggling? Of course not. Why? Alvarez is a friend and contributor to the election kitty according to my source. He is a K member or kaibigan.

What about the loss of several hundred millions of pesos in Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) due to cheating perpetrated by a gambling syndicate headed by a Singaporean named Ben Lui.

During the investigation conducted by the House committee on games and amusement, it was revealed and subsequently admitted by Pagcor officials that they already knew about the cheatring but they did not stop it.

They even allowed Ben Lui at Hyatt Casino despite a standing ban disallowing him to play at the Hyatt Casino, some conniving officials lifted the ban which allowed Ben Lui to cheat and rob the Casino of almost P50 million.

It was very clear that several offenses were committed by Pagcor officials who were clearly found in connivance with Ben Lui but nothing has been done. In fact Pagcor and DoJ officials even helped him get away instead of detaining him and issuing a watch list order, unlike GMA and Mike Arroyo.

So was justice served with triple speed against against Ben Lui and the conniving Pagcor officials headed purportedly by a kaklase of his excellency? Definitely not.

There you are. This is the kind of justice we have today in this pitiful country of ours, BS Aquino style.

That is why GMA has to undergo the ordeal because she is not a member of the KKK. Although she is also a K, as she is a kalaban and being an enemy of the BS Aquino administration she has to taste a different kind of justice.

A justice system which means that no matter what the law or the legal order coming from the highest court of the land says, and such order or decision is not to the liking of BS, he is ready to defy such orders because he believes that he is at the side of moral right and judgment, and the truth and more than anything, the Filipino people are with him. What a megalomaniac.

Imagine, the President of the land disobeying the decision of the Supreme Court. Where is the Rule of Law now? What happens to the separation of powers of the three co-equal branches of government and the principles of check and balance which is the centerpiece of a democratic and republican government enshrined in our Constitution.

Is he giving a bad example to our people in that whenever a court decision is not in their favor, they will not obey? If this happens, there will be great chaos and disaster to this country of ours.