Posts tagged 2010 elections
To the Presidentiables: Bare your stand on SC midnight appointment controversy
Jan 18th
I challenge our presidential candidates to bare their stand on the raging legal controversy on whether outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can still appoint the next Chief Justice despite a constitutional prohibition against presidential midnight appointments.
Only LP Presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has taken a firm stand on the controversy while most of the other presidential aspirants have opted to consistently play on the safe side on the matter.
This matter on whether we should allow the President to circumvent the constitutional ban against midnight appointments for her to be able to fiddle with the independence of the Supreme Court is More >
I don’t agree with Senator Enrile’s position on next SC chief appointment
Jan 18th
I disagree with the position taken by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile that President Arroyo can bypass the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) in appointing the successor of outgoing Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
The legal position taken Enrile, which appears to have been adopted by Malacanang, on the appointment of a Chief Justice without a JBC nomination, is a clear violation of the Constitution.
Article VIII, Section 4 (1) of the 1987 Constitution provides that the Supreme Court is composed of a Chief Justice and 14 associate justices. Thus, the members of the High Court are one Chief justice and 14 associate More >
Malacanang allies “misinterpreting the law” on appointing next SC chief justice
Jan 11th
President Arroyo’s allies were “deliberately misinterpreting the 1987 Constitution” when they insisted that she can appoint a new Supreme Court Chief Justice even before Chief Justice Reynato Puno retires on May 17, 2010.
They will be violating the Constitution and the laws, on the claim of Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, a member of the Bar and Judicial Council, that the president can appoint a “chief justice-in-waiting” during the final weeks of her nine-year administration.
President Arroyo cannot appoint a new Supreme Court chief justice to replace Puno as his retirement date falls within the election More >
Disqualification case is harassment
Dec 7th
The disqualification case filed against me by Vlademir Cabigao is a nuisance suit. This smacks of the desperate harassment tactics that Malacanang is infamous for employing against its political critics.I anticipated that a petition of this nature would be brought against me so I took the initiative and asked for a legal opinion from the Comelec. Last September 19, Atty. Ferdinand Rafanan, Chief of the Comelec’s Legal Department, replied and stated that what the 1987 Constitution prohibited was the immediate reelection of a senator for a third term following two consecutive terms. To quote Rafanan, “A senator can run after More >
Noynoy is the people’s choice for change
Sep 4th
As National Chairman of the Liberal Party (LP), I am urging other opposition presidentiables to emulate the sacrifice taken by LP President Mar Roxas to put the interests of the country first before personal ambition for the sake of a united opposition.
Senator Noynoy Aquino is emerging as the overwhelming people’s choice for change. We are hopeful the other opposition leaders will now join the snowballing clamor for change and eventually endorse Sen. Noynoy’s presidential bid in 2010.
I am 99.9 percent sure that Sen. Noynoy himself will not turn down the aspiration of the Filipino masses and take up this historic More >
Why the “double speak?”
Nov 24th
The Arroyo administration is guilty of “double speak” on the issue of charter change. The deceitful moves of Malacañang and its allies only reinforce suspicions that the exercise is intended to extend the president’s stay in power beyond 2010.
While President Arroyo appears to be no longer be interested in pushing for Charter Change and extending her term, her eldest son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, was spearheading a signature campaign in the House of Representatives to amend the 1987 Constitution through a constituent assembly.
The double speak of Malacañang on the issue to Charter Change is too obvious to ignore. It More >
