Aquino’s war on corruption stirs debate

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III has won praise for targeting some of the country’s most powerful figures in his war on corruption, but his bruising tactics are also causing an increasing uproar.

Aquino’s campaign has moved into top gear over the past month, when he used the force of his office to arrest his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, then engineered the unprecedented impeachment of the country’s top judge for allegedly protecting her.

Aquino, the son of democracy heroes, won presidential elections in a landslide last year on a vow to end the pervasive culture of corruption that is one of the key reasons for the Philippines’ crushing poverty.

He has said that Arroyo, who ruled the country for nearly a decade before him, was one of the worst culprits — a view widely held by the public — and vowed to make her his top priority in his anti-graft campaign.

Aquino has also sacked some top officials at state-controlled corporations who were appointed during Arroyo’s time, and forced the resignation of the head graft prosecutor, who was also seen as sympathetic to the former president.

But while the president continues to enjoy record support in public opinion polls, there is growing concern that he is employing unnecessary and legally questionable bully tactics to achieve his goals.

“While we support the reform agenda of the president, its implementation must respect and not subvert the constitutional allocation of power,” Roan Libarios, president of the 50,000-strong Integrated Bar of the Philippines, told Agence France-Presse.

“This is sending a chilling effect. This sends a signal to judges that if the president does not like your ruling, they can make life difficult for you, or worse (you may) be impeached and removed.”

This week Aquino, with stunning speed, marshalled his allies in Congress to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The impeachment complaint, signed by two-thirds of lawmakers in just a few hours, accused Corona of betraying public trust and violating the Constitution in rulings that favored Arroyo, as well as personal corrupt acts.

The dramatic turn of events came after Corona’s office, the highest arbiter of the law in the land, last month overturned a travel ban on Arroyo that the government had put in place as it prepared charges against her.

Arroyo had said she needed to travel abroad for medical reasons, but the government feared she intended to flee to escape prosecution.

Aquino controversially ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling and ordered that Arroyo remain in the country.

She was shortly afterwards charged with rigging the 2007 senatorial elections and is now detained at a military hospital while awaiting trial.

Aquino then launched a blistering shame campaign against Corona, whom he called an “agent” appointed by Arroyo to the Supreme Court for the single purpose of ensuring she did not end up behind bars.

The impeachment case will now go to trial in the Senate, which will determine whether Corona must step down.

Arroyo appointed Corona to his post hours before she stepped down last year, a move Aquino said violated a constitutional ban on “midnight appointments” by outgoing leaders.

But Libarios argued that Aquino may have brought the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis, because by attacking the integrity of the country’s highest judge, he had also weakened the entire judicial institution.

“Of the three branches of government, the judiciary is the weakest. It does not have the powerful sword of the president, or the awesome purse of congress,” Libarios said.

Libarios’ concern was shared by hundreds of lawyers and judges who staged a walkout on Wednesday to cheer Corona as he delivered a speech to accuse Aquino of fomenting a “dictatorship”.

Two members of Aquino’s ruling coalition also refused to sign the impeachment complaint, saying they had not been given enough time to study it.

Some media commentators normally supportive of the president have also voiced concern about whether he is trampling on the justice system in his determination to nail Arroyo.

Political opponents have also accused him of a witch-hunt against his predecessor.

But Harry Roque, a constitutional law professor at the University of the Philippines, said he believed Aquino had not broken any laws and pointed out that he still had the overwhelming support of the public.

“His anti-corruption efforts are now gaining traction. He should have actually done this from day one, but it’s better late than never,” Roque told AFP.

“Constitutional processes are there to promote accountability among impeachable public officers, and that is what the president has followed.”

And crucially in a country long plagued by coup attempts and “people power” marches, the military has remained behind Aquino while there have been no street protests against him.