Stop lawyering for Chief Justice, party-list group tells Escudero

Senator Francis Escudero. INQUIRER file photo

The Akbayan party-list group has accused Senator Francis Escudero of lawyering for Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona after civil society groups demanded that the latter inhibit himself from hearing a case involving former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Akbayan reacted strongly Saturday to Escudero’s statement that civil society leaders, including those in Akbayan, were not a “party of interest” to the electoral sabotage case filed against Arroyo and, thus, had no right to ask that Corona recuse himself.

“Those who filed a petition asking Corona to inhibit from Arroyo’s cases are ’party’ to the Arroyo cases. They are not only citizens of the republic, they are also legitimate voters who have substantial interest in seeing to it that the alleged election saboteurs of the 2007 elections are made to account for wrongdoing,” said Akbayan acting president Marie Chris Cabreros.

Cabreros said that any registered voter had legal standing enough to intervene in the electoral sabotage case filed against Arroyo and had every right to know the true will of the electorate in the 2007 elections.

She said that Escudero’s argument was tantamount to saying that the people had no right to inquire into matters that involved the legitimacy of the 2007 elections.

Thwart the body politic

“Worse, it is quite disturbing that lawyer-senators such as Escudero would attempt to thwart efforts of the body politic to express their views on matters imbued with great public interest such as the results of the elections,”  she said.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried to reach Escudero on Sunday but his mobile phone went unanswered.

Cabreros said Escudero should instead defend the people’s campaign to exact justice from the Arroyos.

She asked why Escudero was interested in defending Corona, and why he disapproved of taking the option of impeaching Corona if the latter refused to inhibit himself from the Arroyo case.

Cabreras reminded the senator that he himself had led efforts to impeach former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in 2003.

“Senator Escudero should be the last person to prevent the people from exercising their right to mull over their constitutional options, including impeachment, to make their leaders such as the chief justice accountable,” Cabreros said.

“Lest the good senator forget, he led an impeachment move against a chief justice in 2003, which was allegedly used as leverage on behalf of Danding Cojuangco during the height of the coco levy issue in the high tribunal,” she added.

Last Tuesday, the Bantay Gloria Network filed a petition before the high court asking Corona to inhibit himself from cases involving Arroyo.

The petitioners included former Akbayan party-list Representative Risa Hontiveros, Leah Navarro of the Black and White Movement, whistle-blower Rodolfo  Lozada, and Juan Tejano, student council chair of the University of the Philippines College of Social Sciences and Philosophy.