Aquino meant no disrespect to Supreme Court—Palace
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Thursday said President Benigno Aquino III did not disrespect the Supreme Court when he questioned its decision declaring parts of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) unconstitutional.
“The President maintained a respectful tone in his speech last Monday. He said what he believed was needed to convey the government’s rationale for seeking reconsideration,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said during a televised briefing.
“It is inappropriate to fan further speculations on this at this time,” he told reporters who asked him about what the President was alluding to in some parts of his speech last Monday.
Aquino’s speech assailing the high court’s decision has received mixed opinions from the public, especially after he said that he didn’t want the Executive and the Judiciary to clash.
“There may be interpretations on how they may have viewed the President’s demeanor. Merong mga nagsasabi na tila ba defiant daw iyon o arrogant daw iyon. Pero para sa amin po, there was neither defiance or arrogance just compliance with judicial due process,” Coloma said.
(There may be interpretations on how they may have viewed the President’s demeanor. Some said he sounded defiant or arrogant. But for us, there was neither defiance or arrogance, just compliance with judicial due process.)
The Secretary also announced that the government would file its motion for reconsideration within the week, containing “all the salient arguments being put forward by the executive branch in asking the magistrates to revisit the legal issues.”
The court allows respondents to file their motion for reconsideration 15 days after they receive the decision, in the case of the DAP ruling, it was received by the government on July 4 and deadline for filing of MR would be on July 19.
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