Lawyer Harry Roque INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
WITH national elections barely six months away, politicians and candidates are working overtime to eliminate rivals, with some of them resorting to a “legal coup d’etat.”
Or so claimed Harry Roque Jr., a nominee of the Kabalikat ng Mamamayan (Kabayan) party-list group, of administration standard-bearer, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.
In a statement, the congressional candidate said Roxas was leading a “legal coup d’etat” and using the ruling Liberal Party’s “influence in the courts” to eliminate his main rivals in the 2016 elections, specifically Sen. Grace Poe, Vice President Jejomar Binay, and possible presidential contender, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
“The public should be vigilant and closely watch the allies of the administration in the Senate Electoral Tribunal, the Commission on Elections and the Supreme Court, because if we lower our guard, their decisions will not be guided by the rule of law, but by the nation’s current rulers,” said the former University of the Philippines professor.
Roque said there were “rumblings” in the legal community about Roxas tapping Senate President Franklin Drilon and lawyers associated with “The Firm” to ensure that Poe, an independent candidate, would be disqualified from the presidential race on questions of residency and citizenship.
“The Firm” refers to the CVC Law firm founded by Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, one of whose law partners, Avelino Cruz, was a staunch Roxas ally and was part of President Aquino’s legal team in 2010.
There are also efforts to put Binay behind bars and prevent Duterte from running for the presidency, Roque said, adding that such maneuvers would leave as Roxas’ lone opponent Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, whose survey ratings, he said, were allegedly lower than that of the LP standard-bearer.
Sought for comment, Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez, concurrent spokesperson of the LP’s Team Daang Matuwid senatorial slate, described Roque’s statement as baseless.
“These allegations are based solely and exclusively on unnamed anonymous sources,” Gutierrez said. “They’re hearsay. It goes without saying that there is absolutely no truth to these claims,” he added.
According to some government lawyers and administration allies, Binay, who is facing corruption and plunder charges, was not immune from suit and could face a prison term.
Duterte has been under fire from the justice department over allegations that he was involved in the so-called “Davao Death Squad” vigilante group.
“During the time of President Corazon Aquino, the threats to democracy were the coups launched left and right by rogue elements of the Armed Forces. Now a similar coup is underway, right under our noses. But this time its generals wear barong Tagalog and its soldiers are armed with petitions and pleadings,” Roque said.
Gutierrez however countered that Binay’s and Poe’s cases “were already being taken up in appropriate tribunals, following regular processes… which are open and have always been open to scrutiny by the public.”
Roque should refrain from coming up with rash allegations, he added.
“Harry Roque and I were colleagues at the UP College of Law faculty. I am disappointed that he is this quick to make such serious accusations based on the flimsiest of evidence. That’s not what we were taught in UP,” Gutierrez said.