Occupy Supreme Court
Both Abad and Llamas harped on the President’s theme of accountability to the people and the justness of the cause against Arroyo as Palace supporters in media called for an “occupy Supreme Court” movement copied from a protest in New York against economic imbalance and corporate greed.
Llamas said the President’s tirades on Thursday at the Makati Business Club anniversary and on Monday at the First National Summit on Criminality in front of Corona were an “attempt to remind the Chief Justice and the other members of the justice apparatus of the people’s agenda and the obligation of public officers in responding to this.”
“(President Aquino) is just echoing the sentiments of the vast majority, who feel that genuine justice cannot be served when the Chief Justice and the majority of the Supreme Court are loyal and accountable to only one person—GMA (Arroyo)—and disregard the interests of the majority,” Llamas said in a text message. “I think that if you ask the ordinary citizen if they feel that the Supreme Court is partial to GMA, the answer will be a resounding ‘yes.’”
“The President is just being true to his nature as well as his mandate—integrity against cynicism and impunity. And to this, he really has to move out of the box,” Llamas said. “It really isn’t easy to be on the straight path. Especially at the start, it’s the most difficult.”
Abad said the President’s blasts were not meant to influence the high tribunal in cases involving Arroyo.
“It was in no way meant to influence the decision of the high court on cases involving Arroyo before it. It was meant principally to remind our people in government, especially the high court, about where governmental power emanates from, whether you’re in the executive, legislative or judiciary,” Abad said.
“It is from the people. And every high official and institution of government must always keep that freshly in mind,” he added.
Healthy democracy
Speaking at a press conference, Assistant House Majority Leader Romero Quimbo and Ifugao Representative Teddy Brawner said the justices should not be too sensitive on interbranch debates, saying this was a sign of a healthy democracy.
“When the judiciary strikes down some of the things that we pass here as being unconstitutional or even devoid of any legal basis, we take it in stride,” Quimbo said. “We were not piqued.”
“Let’s not overreact,” Brawner said, adding the court should not be treated as a “sacred council.”
Critics said the Palace was talking about a “mob rule.” Senator Panfilo Lacson warned that Malacañang was sending a signal to local officials in the provinces that they could ignore court rulings and feared this could lead to anarchy.
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