Rule of Law
To GMA: Reverse Agra’s order
Apr 24th
I challenge President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to reverse the controversial order of Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra dismissing the murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan to dispel public suspicions that she herself was setting up a whitewash of the case.
Under existing procedures, the president can review and reverse decisions made by the Justice Secretary in cases involving heinous crimes. I therefore challenge President Arroyo to reverse and set aside the controversial decision of Secretary Agra that has triggered so much public outrage in order to dispel public suspicions that she was the one who directed Agra to clear More >
Ampatuan endorsement? No thanks, also.
Apr 21st
I received reports that the principal suspect in the Maguindanao massacre, Andal Ampatuan, Jr., had endorsed me as a senatorial candidate. I did not ask for this endorsement, and I will never accept any endorsement from anyone involved in the gruesome murders of 57 innocent lives.
Andal Ampatuan Jr. must be losing his mind; one day saying that (Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manny) Villar was his candidate, together with (senatorial candidates) Bong Revilla, Gilbert Remulla and Jinggoy Estrada, and then the next day, he endorses me and Noynoy. It looks like Andal Jr. is being haunted by the ghosts of the 57 More >
Ask CA to reverse Agra’s decision
Apr 19th
I urge government prosecutors to defy the order of Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to drop the murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan in connection with the November 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 31 media workers, in Maguindanao.
The Department of Justice prosecutors should disown Agra’s order dropping the murder raps against Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan, the former acting vice governor of Maguindanao Province, for being unjust and grossly erroneous.
If necessary, the prosecutors should ask the Court of Appeals to reverse the justice More >
Why overrule Devanadera’s verdict?
Apr 18th
Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra’s order dropping the charges against Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan, the former acting vice governor of Maguindanao Province, was uncalled for and only reinforces the prevailing fears of a possible whitewash of the case in the minds of the families of the massacre victims.
Given the sensitivity of the case, Secretary Agra should have allowed the private prosecutors to present the evidence in court and let the judge decide whether the murder charges against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan would be dropped or not.
The More >
Overhaul party-list system
Apr 18th
Once voted into office, I will make it my priority to amend and strengthen the law governing the party-list system. People have the right to representation, and true representation can only be achieved when the elected representative of every party-list system is the perfect personification of that party-list, not someone who clearly has a hold on power.
As the Supreme Court has stated, it is not enough for a party-list nominee-candidate to claim representation of the marginalized and underrepresented, because representation is easy to claim and to feign.
The party-list organization or party must factually and truly represent the marginalized and More >
GMA cannot appoint next Sandiganbayan chief
Apr 6th
We, at the Liberal Party, maintain that the constitutional ban against midnight appointments is in effect and President Arroyo is barred from appointing the replacement of Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Norberto Geraldez who passed away due to a lingering illness last Sunday.
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) should not submit to Malacanang a list of nominees for the replacement of Geraldez since the ban is still in effect despite the Supreme Court’s March 17 ruling that the President can appoint the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno who retires on May 17.
In that SC decision, while the High Tribunal ruled that More >
SC row not about Carpio or Corona
Mar 2nd
I hope the raging controversy on whether President Arroyo can appoint the next Supreme Court Chief Justice would not deteriorate into a clash of personalities between SC Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Renato Corona.
I hope that we can bring back the debate, not on the personalities of these two senior justices, but of the concept and legal issues of whether or not the President violates the Constitution if she appoints the next chief justices despite the constitutional ban against midnight appointments.
While Carpio and Corona were the top contenders to succeed incumbent Chief Justice Reynato Puno who retires on May 17, More >
Leave task of finding peace in Mindanao to next president
Feb 19th
Having failed in its efforts to deliver lasting peace to Southern Philippines, President Arroyo should leave the task of forging a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to the country’s next president.
While we can fairly say that her government tried its best to reach a peace agreement in Mindanao, we have to accept the fact that President Arroyo lost all her credibility with the Filipino people and the international community when her negotiators bungled the handling of the so-called GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) that was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2008.
President More >
The SC has spoken: LP leadership is legitimate
Feb 19th
I welcome the decision of the Supreme Court affirming the LP leadership under party president Sen. Mar Roxas and dismissing the petition of expelled pro-Arroyo administration LP members led by former environment secretary Lito Atienza Jr.
With finality, the Supreme Court has spoken and has upheld the legitimate leadership of the Liberal Party. This decision closes the book on this illicit attempt of the President Arroyo’s cronies to hijack the LP through unprincipled, underhanded and unscrupulous means.
The Supreme Court has spoken and we hope Malacanang and the other allies of President Arroyo led by Atienza will respect the decision and submit More >
Arrest of Morong 43 illegal
Feb 16th
The recent arrest of 43 health workers in Morong, Rizal by members of the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division was baseless and illegal.
What was the motive of the military?
Mere membership in the Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP) is no longer a crime. You must have performed covert acts of your political belief to overthrow the government before you can be accused of violating the law.
Media reports said Philippine National Police Senior Inspector Rex Cuntapay, a former NPA captive, supposedly identified some of the detained health workers as members of the New People’s Army and said that at least two More >
