Elder Davide hits JV, Maceda for smearing name

FORMER Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. accused former president Joseph Estrada and senatorial candidate Ernesto Maceda of deceiving Cebuanos and defended his son Hilario “Junjun” Davide III for using his photo in his campaign banners.

“He is not hiding behind (me); He is, in fact, assuring the Cebuanos that his father would be his role model in public service,” the former chief justice said in a press statement.

Davide also dismissed allegations earlier raised by Estrada and Maceda in a forum that he was a political butterfly.

Davide cited his more than 40 years of public service, 15 of which were spent as an associate justice and then chief justice of the Supreme Court.

In his press statement, Davide said he never joined a political party except for the opposition Pusyon Bisaya that was formed during the martial law era to fight the Marcos regime.

Davide, who earlier retired from public service after serving as Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations, is actively campaigning for his son Hilario Davide III as the gubernatorial be of the Liberal Party.

“It just happened that during my public service various administrations from Diosdado Macapagal to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed power. To these administrations I didn’t owe any loyalty. My loyalty had always been to the institutions I served and to our country and people,” Davide said. Senior Reporter Dale G. Israel