A self-destructing campaign

from To the Point by Emil Jurado (Manila Standard Today)
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideOpinion.htm?f=2010/january/19/emiljurado.isx&d=2010/january/19

There are obvious attempts on the part of Liberal Party standard-bearer Senator Benigno Aquino III to minimize the impact of the Kris Aquino-James Yap separation. Noynoy’s famous sister Kris allegedly confronted the rumored girlfriend of James and her mother at the doorstep of the latter’s house and berated them.

Some of Noynoy’s publicists and propagandists disguised as opinion writers are even now saying that after Kris left the conjugal home, public sympathy will now be for Kris, and consequently also for Noynoy. Santa Banana, I don’t know what kind of logic Noynoy’s supporters have.

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It takes only one serious mistake to serve as a tipping point for or against a presidential candidate. And that tipping point that could make people believe that a candidate does not have competence, track record and experience we can believe in.

Recently, the Liberal Party’s standard bearer came out with a dangerous, arrogant, irresponsible and pathetic statement that if he is elected President, he would not recognize the Chief Justice appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

As we know, there is now a great debate on the appointment of the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno who will retire on May 17. Noynoy’s supporters claim that an appointment by Mrs. Arroyo would constitute a violation of the election ban. It would also be a “midnight appointment.”

In the beginning, I said there was need to preserve the people’s faith in the independence of the Supreme Court. But now it is clear that the core issue is whether the President can—or should—appoint a chief justice to sit immediately after Puno retires, not a minute later.

This is where the controversy occurs. One school of thought claims that the President cannot make the appointment because she is banned by the Constitution.

The other school believes otherwise since the ban covers only executive appointments, it does not cover the Supreme Court, and more so the Chief Justice.

I’m neither a legal luminary nor a constitutionalist, but I believe the President should make the appointment. It’s just too dangerous if she doesn’t.

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And now Noynoy says he would not recognize an appointment by the President, and that any of the senior associate justices would be considered resigned if he or she accepts the post.

How presumptuous and how arrogant for somebody who is not yet president.

I’d like to add that Noynoy’s statement is also a pathetic one —he clearly doesn’t realize the implications of his statement.

Santa Banana, if Noynoy would not recognize Puno’s successor just because he or she was appointed by Mrs. Arroyo, Noynoy will never have a chief justice in the six years of his incumbency—that is, if he is elected president.

There would be no chief justice acting an ex-oficio chairman of the Judicial and Bar Council to convene it for it to submit a shortlist of nominees.

Clearly, Noynoy’s recent statements only show his lack of competence and understanding not only of the judicial system but national interest.

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Apparently, Noynoy also does not know that a member of the Supreme Court can only be replaced in case of death, resignation, extreme disability or impeachment.

Not even the President can make a member of the Supreme Court resign. The judiciary is a co-equal branch of the executive and the legislative. How clueless can this candidate be? Indeed, he is self-destructing.

Here’s another thing: the campaign may just be divided. Reports have it that many of the original supporters of Senator Mar Roxas in the party are being ousted and placed “outside the kulambo (mosquito net)” by die-hard Noynoy followers.

The die-hard Noynoy supporters—the Hyatt 10, the Black and White Movement, and the Makati Business Club —suspect that the original Mar Roxas followers have divided loyalties. While they are all-out for Mar Roxas, their loyalties are not necessarily for Noynoy.

An example is the so-called “hit list” being prepared by Noynoy die-hards against big businessmen identified as close to President Arroyo. Roxas and his followers are reportedly against it because it could boomerang on them. But Noynoy’s die-hard supporters insist on it. Does this not remind you of the vindictive administration of his mother?

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In the beginning, the original Liberals were all for Roxas, who had the competence, track record and experience for a leader we can believe in. But Noynoy dislodged Roxas from being the party’s standard bearer as a result of the death of his mother. The party thought Noynoy would have a stronger chance than Mar, who was trailing in poll surveys at that time.

Alas, the afterglow of the death of the former president is fading. Now the gap between Noynoy and his closest rival, Nacionalista Party candidate Senator Manuel Villar, is narrowing.

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The framers of the 1987 Cory Constitution never contemplated that a situation like what we have now. What will happen if there is no chief justice to convene the JBC, get a consensus among justices who can act as ponente for a case, and certify a decision as true and correct? This is why I now believe that the sitting President must appoint the next chief justice.

To leave a hiatus like what the opposition contemplates presents clear and present danger to national interest.

I must commend Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile for bringing up the core of the issue—that President Arroyo can name a chief justice if only to bring up a cause of action which only the Supreme Court can decide.

Until the Supreme Court decides on this, there will be no end to the debate. Blame it all on the lack of foresight of the 1987 framers of a flawed Cory charter.