Palace reacts to ‘legal coup d’etat’: Aquino doesn’t condone black prop

Reacting to the statement of lawyer and congressional aspirant Harry Roque Jr. that the administration is resorting to a “legal coup d’etat” to eliminate rivals in the 2016 elections, Malacañang Palace says President Benigno Aquino III always fights fair and does not condone any form of black propaganda.

“May I clarify that I speak for the President when I say that (he) has never condoned any black propaganda, does not condone its doing; in fact, has been a victim of it many times himself, as such hindi po ’yan gagawa ng ganyan. Hindi po ’yan polisiya, hindi po ’yan pagkatao ng Pangulong Aquino,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters in a press briefing on Wednesday.

“Doon sa isyu ng binabawasan ’yung makakalaban, hindi po … Again, I speak for the President when I say that wala ho ’yan sa pagkatao niya … Lagi hong patas lumaban ang Pangulong Aquino. Kahit hindi ho patas ang laban sa kanya, lagi hong patas lumaban ang Pangulong Aquino,” she added.

Valte was reacting to Roque’s allegations that Liberal Party, particularly its standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, was using its influence in the courts to eliminate rivals, namely Sen. Grace Poe, Vice President Jejomar Binay, and possibly 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,” Roque said.

READ: New pols’ weapon: ‘Legal coup d’etat’

As to allegations that the administration would use its links, particularly presidential appointees, to disqualify Poe from the presidential derby, Valte said conspiracy theories were “founded on six degrees of separation and not on solid evidence.”

“Alam mo ’yung six degrees of separation, that’s a good party game, but that has no place in public discourse. Kasi—ako, kaklase ko si ganyan, ergo ganyan—it cannot be like that,” Valte said.

“The President is legally mandated to appoint people. Ang dami ho niyan. There are 1.3 million people in government and the President appoints a good bit of those. To my knowledge, it’s more than 4,000, so to say … Hindi ho ’yan malayo na ang Pangulo konektado kay ganito na konektado kay ganyan na konektado kay ganyan. Ako ho, ’pag binilang ko, magkalapit ho kami ni John Lloyd Cruz pero may ibig sabihin ho ba ’yon? Wala, ’di ba? So ako lang. Let’s leave it out of that,” she added.

Roque claimed that there were “rumblings” in the legal community about Roxas asking Senate President Franklin Drilon and lawyers associated with Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s “The Firm” to ensure that Poe, poll front-runner, would be disqualified from the presidential race on questions of citizenship and residency.

Roque added that there were also efforts to jail graft-facing Binay and prevent Duterte from seeking the presidency, leaving Roxas as the lone opponent of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago whose survey ratings, he said, were lower than that of the administration bet. Yuji Vincent Gonzales/RC