Enrile: Church should mediate rift between executive and Supreme Court

MANILA, Philippines–It should be the Church, not Congress, that should mediate to resolve the differences between the executive and judiciary branches, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said on Monday.

“Because we’re political departments of the government – the Executive and Congress – and it involves a nonpolitical department of the government, I would suggest that the church should talk to both sides. They are the peacemakers,” Enrile told reporters.

Enrile was reacting to Senator Panfilo Lacson’s proposal for the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to step into the perceived rift between President Aquino and Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Lacson feared that there would be anarchy in the country if the executive continues to defy the decisions of the Supreme Court and when the situation is replicated in the local level.

Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada backed Lacson’s proposal, saying he himself is willing to act as middleman between the high court and the executive.

But Enrile insisted that Congress should not interfere in the matter.

“I would not attempt to talk to the President and the Chief Justice to stop what they are doing. In the same manner that I think they will not tell me to stop what I’m doing . That’s the essence of the three branches of the government.

“So I would suggest a neutral body. It could be the Catholic church and the other churches being the peacemakers in the country,” he said.