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We’ve been hearing the line “bring it to the courts” and similar ones like “let the rule of law prevail” and “let’s uphold the Constitution” each time the Arroyo administration is found involved in scandalous issues.

The same is true now on the issue of the Spratly Islands deal with China, as Sec. Ricardo Saludo said today:

Why does the opposition keep reporting to press statements and partisan hearings? Is it afraid of impartial due process?

Something’s terribly wrong with this propaganda line of the administration.

Of course, it is public knowledge that the administration hates the Senate, so much so that it put out Executive Order 464 and Memorandum Circular 108 to blunt the Senate’s investigative powers. It has used these two “legal means” to thwart the lawful investigations by the Senate for the longest time, an act never heard of since the birth of the Republic.

It seems that for the Palace, the Senate is doing everything out of the law. Its investigations could perhaps be thoroughly oppositionist but we cannot blame them because they are dominated by members of the opposition. They fiscalize as a matter of right and duty to the public. Now if the administration is terrified of these Senate hearings for deathly fear of being ousted, that’s not the problem of the Senate and the public. That’s the problem of the administration which committed blunders, mistakes — and crimes.

Ditto on the process of impeachment, a perfectly legal remedy given by the Constitution to rein in on erring top government officials. The administration has twice aborted the proceedings not by clarifying the substantive issues but by purportedly paying off the pro-administration majority in the House. If and when the people decide to file an impeachment case against Arroyo later this year, that is well within the rights and prerogatives of citizens.

Now, how about court cases. The administration dares the opposition to file suits against the wrongdoers.

The nerve. On this point, allow me to quote NUPL secretary-general Neri Javier Colmenares who issued a statement today on this precise issue:

The line proposed by Executive Officials to bring the NBN-ZTE case to the courts is nothing but an attempt to mislead the people and trap them into a legal limbo that will thwart efforts to hold public officials accountable.

Firstly, no criminal information in court can be filed without the filing of a complaint with the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman, the two institutions that did not raise a finger to investigate the ZTE-NBN contract even after Pres. Arroyo cancelled the same and after Sec. Romulo Neri implicated under oath Mr. Benjamin Abalos for bribery in the NBN deal.  The Ombudsman is required under Sec. 15 (1) of RA 6670 to:

1) Investigate and prosecute on its own or on complaint by any person, any act or omission of any public officer or employee, office or agency, when such act or omission appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient. It has primary jurisdiction over cases cognizable by the Sandiganbayan x x x

The ZTE contract was cancelled or suspended by Pres. Gloria Arroyo because of irregularities—a clear admission that corruption has taken place.  Under the law, the Ombudsman should have acted as early as last year, on its own,  not only because of the reported cancellation of the contract but also because a cabinet member has admitted the bribery attempt in a Senate investigation.  The Ombudsman, however, did not find these acts illegal or at the very least ‘improper’, a clear sign of its lack of interest to seriously investigate and prosecute the anomalies.

The Justice Secretary has been known to have sworn loyalty to President Arroyo and have in fact been accused by the Supreme Court of ‘prostituting’ his office to persecute critiques of the President.  There is no chance that the DOJ will genuinely prosecute those involved in the ZTE scam and bringing a complaint before them is another legal trap.

Both the DOJ and the Ombudsman have been compromised and are perceived to have sworn loyalty to Pres. Arroyo and are not expected to rule with independence and integrity in any criminal complaint against Pres. Arroyo.

Secondly, the filing of a complaint in court is a trap because if filed the  Pres. Arroyo can immediately ask for its dismissal on the ground that Pres. Arroyo enjoys immunity from suit.  Government lawyers sought the dismissal of the case against Pres. Arroyo in the complaint filed by former Senator Jovito Salonga with the Ombudsman and the Amparo petition filed for Jun Lozada in the Court of Appeals.  It is unfortunate that many local government officials parrot the ‘bring it to the court’ line knowing full well that no case in court will prosper due to the president’s immunity from suit.  Pres. Arroyo has not waived her immunity from suit so that she can be investigated and prosecuted in independent tribunals for her involvement in various violations of the laws and the Constitution. Since courts are expected to declare the president immune from suit it is hypocritical for Malacanang to call for the filing of the cases in court.

NUPL’s Colmenares also went to the crux of the issue: Why take the issues before the courts when Arroyo has used all legal means to thwart moves to make her accountable? Why go to courts when Arroyo continues to misuse “executive provilege” and “presidential immunity from suit” against the people.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 6:16 pm and is filed under Commentary, Musings. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.