HUMAN rights lawyer and former Sanlakas party-list Rep. JV Bautista thinks that President Bongbong Marcos is unlike his father and describes the current administration as “benign.” He allays fears of the younger Marcos “cultivating” the military to further his political ends. Bautista was a guest at last Friday’s Agenda Forum at Club Filipino, along with retired Marine colonel Ariel Querubin. The theme of the forum was, “ Gumuguho na ba ang demokrasya dahil sa kabiguan ng anim na administrasyon na itigil ang malalaking problema ng bayan?”
Bautista also expressed belief that President Marcos seems determined to redeem the Marcos name. He was responding to the question of whether the President seems to be moving towards a dictatorial rule like his father.
Querubin, one the most decorated military officers in Philippine history, says he is determined to bring genuine courage and renewed political will if he wins a Senate seat in the May elections. He, too, like Bautista, has repeatedly expressed deep exasperation over the failure of six Presidents to neutralize widespread corruption, electoral fraud and political dynasties.
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The senator-judges of the upcoming impeachment of Vice President Sarah Duterte should guard against the pitfalls of an impeachment trial in our country. Then-Chief Justice Renato Corona was impeached by a House of Representatives controlled by then-President Noynoy Aquino whose governance should have resonated with the nobility and values of EDSA 1 which his father, Ninoy Aquino, died for.
There were speculations then that Malacañang was appropriating some P24 billion allegedly as additional pork barrel for congressmen and senators, to favor the conviction of Corona in the Senate impeachment trial. The root cause was Corona’s decision to distribute the 6,119-hectare Hacienda Luisita to 6,000 farmers. Former President Gloria Arroyo who was replaced by Noynoy Aquino reportedly pressured Corona, her appointee as chief justice, to make such a ruling which was, in fact, a long overdue lawful action that should have benefitted farmers during President Cory Aquino’s tenure.
But the political elite remained entrenched even after EDSA 1, and was only replaced by a segment, then headed by the Aquino and Cojuangco families. To them, giving up or parceling off the vast hacienda estate was out of the question, even if a new law crafted and approved during President Aquino’s administration on a comprehensive agrarian reform had provided for giving away ownership of agricultural lands to tenants/ farmers.
A Corona family member recalled that Aquino invited Corona to dinner at the Aquino family residence on Times Street in Quezon City. Most of Aquino’s Cabinet officials were around for the night’s warm fellowship with the Chief Justice. Eventually when only Aquino and Corona were left, the former reportedly tried to persuade the latter to lay off the Hacienda Luisita issue as “balato sa kaniya” (Aquino). Corona responded that it was not his decision alone that would prevail, but that the High Court acts as a collegial body when issuing a ruling on all en banc decisions.
The Supreme Court ultimately released its ruling favoring the petition of the Hacienda Luisita farmers, reportedly leaving Aquino enraged. A month later, two complaints against Corona for alleged violation of the Constitution and betrayal of the public trust were filed at the House of Representatives, which were endorsed by several congressmen for his impeachment.
One major violation cited was the alleged failure of Corona to include some details of his acquired income in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN), which until today is a disputed evidence. Another highly-questionable decision of the Senate court was allowing as evidence a set of documents acquired in a manner not provided in the judicial rules of evidence. Such evidence was claimed to have been left at the gate of a congressman which was, of course, a dubious explanation to hide an apparently fraudulent and illegal act on the gathering of evidence.
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Many still remember how the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada was aborted by the walk-out of several senator-judges who refused to respect and comply with the decision of the majority of the senators.
This was on the opening of a brown envelope allegedly containing incriminating documents against Estrada. The majority won the vote against the opening of the envelope. What was woefully illegal was Chief Justice Hilario Davide allowing the walk-out. Has he forgotten that the trial process and its completion is also provided in the Constitution?
Davide had virtually allowed the extra-legal recourse of changing the leadership of the nation through the so-called EDSA 2. More than anyone else, Davide should be held accountable by the judgment of history for making way for the take-over of a new but more extensively-corrupt, more oppressive more abusive regime after Estrada’s.
