MANILA, Philippines—Former Rep. Jacinto Paras Monday distanced himself from Malacañang amid allegations that it was behind his petition to the Supreme Court, a move purportedly intended to oust Chief Justice Reynato Puno.

Paras said he had not talked to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband or anybody connected to them about his petition seeking to disqualify Negros Oriental Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong, as alleged by a Philippine Daily Inquirer source from legal circles.

“That is a sham!” Paras told the Inquirer, referring to allegations that the First Couple had been in touch with him to convince him that Puno’s inaction on the disqualification of Limkaichong (who defeated Paras’ wife Olivia in 2007) was sufficient grounds to impeach the Chief Justice.

He said he was not close to the President. “I haven’t seen the shadow or heard the voice of the First Gentleman for so long. I don’t even know how he looks like now,” Paras said.

He insisted that the petition he filed in the high court was a “personal” battle for him and his wife, who were both seeking to unseat Limkaichong over questions of citizenship.

Paras maintained that the issue was solely about Puno’s purported failure to act on a draft decision against Limkaichong.

He said the decision penned by Associate Justice Ruben Reyes was signed by 14 other justices and should have been adopted.

“Our case should be shielded from politics, too,” Paras said, borrowing a line from Puno who appealed to politicians to spare the high court from partisan maneuverings.

Paras said there was “no logic” to the allegation that his petition was meant to target Puno as part of a supposed scheme to keep Ms Arroyo in power beyond 2010.

Former Sen. Franklin Drilon, chair of the Liberal Party, said that Malacañang wanted Puno out so it could appoint a replacement who would favor a petition for Charter change.

“These people are using me to pursue their political interests,” Paras said.

“Drilon, for example, wants to get elected again for office so he’s riding on the issue for publicity.”

But Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez on Sunday said that the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) would support an impeachment complaint against Puno if what the Chief Justice had committed was an impeachable offense.

Suarez, an official of Kampi, said the President’s political party would give Paras, also a party member, the opportunity to explain the details of the disqualification case.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Monday said that he also had heard of the connection between the Limkaichong case and the impeachment of Puno from a person close to Paras.

Unverified but loud

Supreme Court spokesperson Midas Marquez described the reports he received about the plot to oust Puno through impeachment as “unverified but very loud.”

Gonzalez said he heard about the link between the two issues before it hit the headlines over the weekend.

“I think from one of the friends of one of the parties. In fairness to that person, he might just be thinking aloud about something like that without the consent of the party,” the justice secretary said at a news conference.

Attention deficit

Gonzalez said what he heard wasn’t much of a plan to impeach Puno.

“The conversation was about the Limkaichong case and how they have already won it. There was just a passing statement that (the delay in the promulgation) is something that can be used for impeachment,” he said.

Malacañang Monday stepped up its attack on critics who had alleged that it was using Paras’ petition to go after the Chief Justice.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Anthony Golez said the critics were suffering from attention deficit.

“The usual motive of our critics is (to seek) attention,” he said.

If indeed he was after Puno’s neck, Paras said he could easily file an impeachment complaint in the House and ask one of his friends there to endorse it.

“You have to have enough grounds to impeach the Chief Justice,” he said. “So far, I have not contemplated on that. But if nothing happens with the case, we’ll think of other ways.”

Not enough

Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor said that the accusation against Puno was not enough to impeach him.

Defensor said that he reviewed the alleged transgressions of Puno in the Limkaichong case and reckoned that the Chief Justice’s explanation that the en banc resolution was not doctrinal because it did not have the full concurrence of at least eight justices was satisfactory.

“Based on the news accounts, it is not an important offense,” he said.

Political intrigue

Speaker Prospero Nograles dismissed the impeachment talk against Puno as “a dangerous political intrigue.”

Nograles said that “not a single member of the House is inclined to endorse an impeachment complaint” [against Puno].

Marquez Monday wouldn’t identify the sources of the news of the plot to impeach Puno. “What we are confirming are the ones we hear,” he said at a news conference.

Asked what reports the high court was receiving, Marquez said: “Come Jan. 19 [when the House resumes session], an impeachment case will be filed against the Chief Justice. Perhaps there would also be privilege speeches.”

Marquez indicated that the reports might be unconfirmed but were nonetheless difficult to ignore.

Saying reports of moves to oust Puno was “a cause for serious concern,” a group monitoring new appointees of Ms Arroyo to the high court Monday said it would watch closely developments and vowed “to intervene at the proper time.”

Disturbing information

Bantay Korte Suprema (BKS) convenor, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, said he had also received “disturbing information” that there “seemed to be efforts to undermine the leadership” of Puno at the high court.

But Pangilinan said he was still in the process of validating the reports.

“We’re on a wait-and-see attitude. We’re gathering information we need so we can engage,” the senator told reporters after a meeting with fellow BKS convenors that included lawyers Katrina Legarda and Roberto Parell of the Philippine Bar Association and Alberto Lim of the Makati Business Club.

Asked whether the information he was getting pointed to Malacañang as behind the alleged plot to oust Puno, Pangilinan said there was a “need to look at it deeper” considering that he noted “the personalities by themselves are aligned with the President.”
Legarda said it was possible these efforts were meant to force Puno to step down.

“They’re just doing this to force him to resign because they know it’s not going anywhere. They’ll make him appear corrupt so he’ll be forced to quit,” she said.

Pacifico Agabin, counsel of Limkaichong, said it was premature to comment on the alleged impeachment move against Puno as there was no formal complaint yet filed and everything was still conjectural.

In a statement, Agabin said that if the news reports were true, “such complaint will not even get to first base since any first year law student knows that a draft and signed decision of the court is not considered a judgment until and unless it is duly promulgated by the court.” With a report from Norman Bordadora