CBCP, Joker to Aquino: Respect SC decision

MANILA, Philippines–As it faced a brewing storm from Malacañang, it was business as usual at the Supreme Court on Tuesday as it chose to remain silent on President Aquino’s nationally televised challenge to its July 1 ruling striking down his controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

“The Supreme Court has no comment on the President’s speech yesterday (Monday),” the tribunal’s spokesman, Theodore Te, said in a brief statement to reporters after the high tribunal’s regular en banc meeting.

Asked whether magistrates discussed the speech at all, Te repeated the no-comment response.

‘Difficult to understand’

Te also said the high court was still looking into a Commission on Audit (COA) report questioning the appropriation of P3.2 billion of the tribunal’s funds as savings in 2012 despite unsettled obligations. It was the second time the COA had questioned the use of the court’s savings.

Aquino on Monday night said the court’s decision was “difficult to understand” and that the Palace would appeal the ruling declaring by a 13-0 vote the DAP unconstitutional, citing how the program was allowed under the Administrative Code of 1987 and previous Presidents used it in different incarnations through the years.

Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, an Aquino appointee to the high tribunal, sent out this message on his Twitter account nine minutes after the President’s address on Monday night, “Supreme Court decisions are published so they can be read and understood carefully.”

CBCP statement

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said Tuesday “the President’s views are important and his right to express himself must be respected.”

But the Lingayen-Dagupan prelate said that it was “equally important for our people to hold fast to the basic tenets of the democratic way of life enshrined in our Constitution” and that it was “for the judiciary to interpret the law with definitiveness in the process of resolving justiciable issues.”

“We must respect the Supreme Court. Where there was error, there must be humble admission and immediate rectification,” he stressed.

“The rule of law is a fundamental requirement—an objective condition—of the common good,” he said.

“That the rule of law is at all times safeguarded is therefore a moral concern. When the rule of law is compromised, the common good becomes its victim,” he explained. “The CBCP prays that our nation will tread the path of peace, and that our national leaders may truly be humble and respectful of our democratic institutions so that our most sacred freedoms and liberties are always upheld.”

The CBCP president called on the COA and the Office of the Ombudsman to tell the nation where the DAP funds went.

“While, indeed, in many cases, it would be impractical, unhelpful even, to undo every project funded by what the high court has ruled to be unconstitutional means, we must nevertheless know how these monies were used, for where there was an illegal and immoral application of funds, there must be restitution,” Villegas declared.

Overriding question

Former Sen. Joker Arroyo said Tuesday the “overriding question” was whether the Aquino administration would abide by the Supreme Court’s final ruling should it turn down the government’s planned motion for reconsideration on its unanimous decision voiding the DAP’s core activities.

“As the picture looks presently, the President’s policy is to discredit the judiciary and render it impotent, subjugate further Congress, and make the President supreme. Yet, by his oath of office the President is duty bound to preserve and defend the Constitution,” Arroyo said in a statement. “Goodbye, Constitution. Hurrah to presidential autocracy.”

Arroyo said Aquino had practically declared war against the magistrates, pointing out that his administration had even before Monday night’s TV address launched a “massive encirclement attack on the high court.”

Threats vs judiciary

He noted that Congress had threatened to do away with the Judicial Development Fund (JDF) to impair its fiscal autonomy, which is mandated by the Constitution.

The COA has made public the magistrates’ earnings “to embarrass them,” while the Bureau of Internal Revenue issued a memo order to tax a hitherto untaxable income of employees of the judiciary from the JDF, he added.

The Supreme Court is not powerless, Arroyo said, and its potent weapon is its constitutional duty to rule on the constitutionality of acts or measures, including those of the President.

“The President does not question that power of the Supreme Court, but questions the justices’ collective capacity and integrity to exercise that power. Such presidential stance undermines the Supreme Court,” he said. “If the President expresses lack of faith in the Supreme Court, who will? It has no armed forces to protect itself, or the police to enforce its judgments.”

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