Writable Writes
September 8th, 2005 at 12:14 pm (General, Media, National Politics, Writable Writes)
TUESDAY’S murder by numbers of the impeachment complaints filed against Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the House of Representatives has closed all the remaining legal and constitutional avenues for those seeking the president’s resignation, impeachment or ouster save for only two — judicial remedy from the Supreme Court and the people’s sovereign will acting as the final jury in the so-called “parliament of the streets.”
Of the two though, the former seems now a less appealing option. Even among the impeachment complaint endorsers in the House, there is as yet no consensus as to the filing of a petition with the Supreme Court. Yesterday, in fact, the lawmakers already turned over the impeachment documents to the Bukluran para sa Katotohanan, a recently formed coalition of anti-Arroyo forces led by former Pres. Corazon Aquino and Susan Roces, in a symbolic gesture that can only suggest the futility of efforts through legal means.
Manuel L. Quezon III, in his entry Jigsaw puzzle, articulates pertinent questions that most Filipinos are currently asking:
People are poring over various bits of news to see if they will fit in the puzzling political picture at present. Is there, or is there not, a deal between the President and the Estradas? Estrada says, no. Why did Danding Cojuangco’s sons not vote, and the NPC, the pet party of Cojuangco, not actively join the fray? Could it be the threat of legal action? And what of the Marcoses? Ricky Carandang reports on conflicting messages in the media. And what do the protest numbers really mean? Will there be political retribution for those who rebeled against the Speaker? House whip Prospero Nograles says, yes. And the bishops, where do they stand? Recent revelations, by the government, that many prelates have been receiving donations from the State can help mute whatever critical statement some of them may try to push.
In her September 08, 2005 entry, Sassy Lawyer asks, “So, who’s betrayed the public trust now?“:
…administration congressmen who voted against the justice committee resolution will be ‘dealt with’. Yeah, they will be losing the chairmanship or membership in plum committees in the house. Like, that’s what you get for going against the party thing. Like, after all that the party has done for you, getting you elected, and so on, and so forth… this is what you do.
Well, this penalty thing for ‘colleagues’ who didn’t deliver is not unique to the administration. Same thing is going on with the opposition. The absentee congressmen must ‘explain’ why they did not vote ….
Whether pro or anti impeachment, every member of the Lower House was supposed to have voted in accordance with the wishes of his constituents. How many congressmen went to their districts and conducted consultation meetings at the grassroots level to find out what their constituents wanted to do about the impeachment? How many?
In Disiniland, the tale is about “The Impeachment and the Power of the Ballot“:
…much was said about the state of Philippine democracy. Depending on which side you were on, the dismissal of the Lozano complaint signalled either the triumph or defeat of our fledgling democratic institutions and our adherence to the rule of law. But it seemed to me that overall, the approval of the justice committee’s report revealed the weakness of the ballot in this country.
In an ideal democracy, members of Congress are compelled to vote in accordance with the wishes of their constituency. Otherwise they face the prospect of losing their seat in the next election. After all, the cohesiveness between popular and Congressional will is directly related to the strength of representative democracy. Using this standard, the impeachment process reveals the weakness of Philippine democracy.
Ricky Carandang bares “Not so Secret Deals“:
TV Patrol carried a quote on camera tonight from Raul Gonzales acknowledging that he had met with Imelda Marcos’ lawyer Oliver Lozano to discuss possible preparations for a state burial for the late President Ferdinand Marcos. Mrs. Marcos has also reportedly told her loyalists that she had talked to President Arroyo and sealed a deal to allow her husband’s state burial provided they could gather a million signatures endorsing the idea.
When asked about this Lozano was quick to deny there was any such deal, despite Gonzales’ statement to the contrary.
Jove Francisco talks about the “AFTERGLOW“:
Yes, the president is (still) finding comfort from the people who were with her or loyal to her ever since she got elected, and especially those who rallied behind her and around her during the political crisis.
For the opposition this is proof that hers was a hollow victory. That the fact that the same people and the same constituents are still the ones giving her comfort is a sad fact. The opposition is thinking this way mainly because they believe the number of people who are unhappy with her and who are now callous/apathetic over the situation are growing by the minute. That essentially, it was a victory “just for them” and not the “victory for the people and the constitution” as her officials have been heralding.
Mongster’s Nest, talks about the call to bring the fight “To the streets“:
It is the elite’s contempt for People Power which redirected the attention and energy of everyone to the impeachment process. While big rallies are being held throughout the country, we saw how the anti-Arroyo politicians, civil society, Church and other pompous middle forces mocked these protest actions as fruitless, irrational and unnecessary.
Now, everyone is calling the people to go to the streets and if the impeachment is finally thrashed, civil disobedience is being proposed.
A Citizen on Mars proposed that “Governments Should Be Like Airline Companies“:
It was quite sad to see the impeachment complaint reeling down the drain, like a washed up memento of everything that we need to fight for. I was really hoping that the truth could be given even just a moment’s chance to be tested by the fire, like in a full-blown impeachment proceeding against the President, irregardless if the President may eventually be exonerated or not—at least, in that manner, Congress had not resorted to such numbing insensitivity to the public’s cry for a thorough investigation of the alleged election anomalies believed to have been committed by her. Things like these ain’t suppose to get away so easily, otherwise we can half-expect that every election we will have from now on would most probably be rigged. And we have the present Congress to blame for that.
La Vida Lawyer shares her “Notes on the Impeachment Vote“:
Cheez Escudero and Alan Cayetano did a fine job interpellating Congressman Villafuerte who looked really idiotic juggling those papers and making up excuses for bungled citations and cluttered reasoning. I still don’t know where Edcel Lagman got his silly doctrine that a complaint signed by a lawyer is already verified. Verification must show that verifier had the competence to know the facts he is verifying. As a matter of fact, the verification must state that the verifier knows the facts of his own personal knowledge. In the case of Lozano’s complaint, he cannot possible say that he knew the facts of the impeachment of his own personal knowledge, because the allegation of election fraud was based largely on the Garci Tapes. He did not have personal knowledge of the fact of cheating in the elections. So how can we say that just by signing the complaint, Atty. Lozano has already verified his complaint on the basis of his lawyer’s oath? Silly.
The Political Junkie of Philippine Politics 04 declares “Here’s my prediction: GMA will be removed via people power or a military junta”
I don’t know if it’ll take two weeks, two months, or two years… I don’t know if it will take one, two or more attempts to oust her, but it will happen.
The Bangketa Republique demands for “Truth through a People’s Tribunal“:
The other recourse for the people who wants the truth is to come up and set up a People’s Tribunal composed and convened by people, institutions and other entities that are perceived to be objective, with known probity and of course integrity and credibility.
The San Juan Gossip Mills Outlet asks “Where Are The Jesuits?”:
Something is awry in the parliament of the streets. There seems to be no participation from the Ateneo community or a tacit collaboration with the Jesuits.
Back in the inglorious days of the Erap presidency, the Ateneo was the venue for the meetings and conferences of civil society. Now, the gatherings are held in de la Salle University in Taft or the high school branch in Greenhills.
In the Rational Sphere, Sec. Ricardo Saludo explains “Why the Opposition Lost”
The opposition and their civil society allies depict their failure to get 79 votes for impeachment as an unjust defeat for the outnumbered forces of truth. The real story is not so black and white.
Sec. Cerge M. Remonde talks of “Voices of Sobriety“:
IF President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will be forced to step down, it will be deadly for this country. There will be chaos. The Philippines will become another banana republic.”
This is the statement of Rev. Fr. Jaime Bulatao, SJ, a very distinguished professor of the Ateneo de Manila University, in the wake of persistent calls for the President to resign or be impeached from office.
The statement of the highly respected Jesuit priest is only one of the many voices of sobriety that are beginning to come out in the current political crisis.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer probes on “Payback“:
THE best-case scenario President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can look forward to is that her congressional allies will deliver Charter change before the one-year ban on new impeachment proceedings expires. Otherwise, she risks not only a revival of impeachment complaints in 2006 (since her own allies have appealed to the opposition to just try harder next time), she also risks having all those opposed to her refocusing on the question of legitimacy as the main campaign issue for the 2007 elections. If she does not have a new constitution by then, she will need to spend a lot to maintain her grip on Congress while being the lamest of lame ducks. The victory she has claimed for herself after the House of Representatives threw out the impeachment complaints did not only come at a high price but also requires her to keep on giving — to her allies.
Amando Doronila does an Analysis : “People power has lost its sting“:
The President was closer to reality when she added, “The Filipino people mark a glorious day in history, when instead of forcing a president out of office through people power, they chose to keep a president through voting in the halls of constitutional democracy.”
This reference to people power is illuminating. It brings into focus the reality that emerged from the process in the House: people power has become an impotent weapon for ousting a widely reviled President.
Neal H. Cruz declares “As I See It : Crime pays, House vote tells us“:
Ms Arroyo wants a truce because she knows she may have won three rounds but the bout isn’t over yet. There are many more rounds to go and she knows that the longer the bout goes, the weaker she gets and the stronger her opponents get.
Raul Pangalangan shares his “Passion For Reason : Rule of law and ‘The Godfather’
“:
The pro-Arroyo middle forces go to great lengths, worthy of intellectual contortionists, to explain why President Arroyo must not go. Estrada was ousted on the issue of his moral fitness but Ms Arroyo must stay despite the moral cloud, they say, because we need to be united. They claim to venerate the Constitution but will do everything to thwart Ms Arroyo’s constitutional successor.
Well, guys, if national unity is valued in itself, and the rule of law says that the Vice President is next in line, why couldn’t you do all that “uniting” behind Noli? Why embrace the Constitution only when it can be twisted to support Arroyo, but not when it categorically benefits her duly-elected Vice President?
Max V. Soliven reminds us that “BY THE WAY, While we squabble in endless political wars, other nations go ahead
“:
Foreign investors are snubbing us as a “hopeless” case. Simply peruse the front pages of newspapers abroad and compare them with ours. The Philippine newspapers’ front pages are crammed with reports of protest, political intrigue, talk about the Bishops grousing that, if GMA didn’t come out with ‘the truth’ she might have to resign (Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, incoming CBCP head, seems intent on plunging the Church back into politics), exclamations of “it’s not over,” etc., with Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former AFP Chief of Staff, pitching in to complain that the “swift dismissal” of the GMA “impeachment” had agitated a section of the Armed Forces.
Ana Marie Pamintuan “SKETCHES a Crisis of credibility“:
Even when the opposition in the House of Representatives belatedly filed an impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, public response to the accusations of “lying, cheating and stealing” was largely tepid.
Has the nation lost its moral compass?
No, the sense of right and wrong is still there. The desire for truth and justice is still there. But throughout the latest political crisis, there has always been the sense that those hurling accusations of “lying, cheating and stealing” are themselves guilty of the same offenses.
The Manila Standard Today tells us “We need some peace“:
The President, on the other hand, cannot simply offer reconciliation without finally laying to rest questions that were left unanswered during the House impeachment hearings. That is the best way to silence her critics. She also ought to realize that the last three months have left her and her administration’s credibility in a weakened state. She must do more to restore confidence.
Jojo Robles shares the Lowdown: “Imee and Frank vanish“:
One thing’s for certain. The latest caper of the dictator’s eldest daughter isn’t going to earn her any brownie points with the followers of the political opposition. And if Imee suddenly announces that she is now joining the pro-Arroyo majority in the House, nobody among the supporters of the President can be expected to jump for joy.
Finally, the Malaya asks “To the barricades?“:
Related Posts:‘The implication is that one can lie, cheat and steal to gain the presidency. Victory ensures one of immunity for six years.’
IF Mrs. Arroyo is innocent, it is hard to understand why she is keeping so quiet, and allowing the current whitewash. But puzzled Filipinos will have little recourse until the next election, when they can at least kick out all these rascals – provided, of course, that the vote is not rigged.”…..
It went like this: Assuming Gloria indeed conspired with Garci in doctoring the results of the election, the acts took place before Gloria’s inaugural on June 30, 2004. Impeachment, however, covers only acts committed during an official’s term of office. Ergo, Gloria cannot be impeached on the ground of stealing the election. She may be liable for violations of the Election Code, but indicting her for such offenses can only take place after her term because the president is immune from suits.
- Writable Writes
- Akbayan Representatives Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and Etta Rosales’ Blogs
- Arroyo Appoints Moslemen T. Macarambon Sr as COMELEC Commissioner
- Today’s Editorials
- ZTE and all the President’s Men
