OPINION: GRINGO'S GROSS ADVICE TO PING: RUN AND HIDE
MANILA, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 (STAR) POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr. - BAD EXAMPLE: It was gross of Sen. Gringo Honasan to advise publicly his mistah, fugitive Sen. Ping Lacson, to resort to deception and disguise and use his military expertise in evading arrest on double murder charges.That is obstruction of justice. For a senator of the land to brag about how he used foul means to evade arrest when he was being hunted for crimes against the state and then tell Lacson to do the same is sickening.
Honasan — who slipped into the Senate on the coattails of his patron Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile — should have advised Lacson to just come out and surrender. Kung talagang matapang si Lacson, he would face his accusers.
An innocent man would have the moral courage to stand anywhere, on the Senate floor, at Plaza Miranda, at the Luneta, in a court of law, and dare state prosecutors to prove their accusations. His innocence would be his armor.
But Lacson chose to run.
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RP IS BEST HAVEN: My hunch is that Lacson is hiding in the country. Or if he is still abroad, he is bound to return to the Philippines — the best place for a fugitive with means.
Lacson reportedly left Jan. 5, during the week when the Department of Justice filed the double murder charges against him. Initial reports had it that he fled to Australia.
But his Australian visa expired in 2008, making it illegal for him to stay Down Under. Neither can he hide in the United States, a favorite of many Filipinos in trouble, because his US visa had also been voided when he got involved in an espionage case.
Once his name is placed on the “Red Notice” list of the International Police, which is soon, his movements abroad would be curtailed since all police agencies in the Interpol network would be on the lookout for him.
His best move is to return to the Philippines, a haven of criminals.
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BECAUSE IT’S GMA: We have not heard the full debate yet on the appointment of the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno when he retires on May 17, seven days after the election for a new president and 44 days before incumbent President Arroyo exits.
In view of conflicting provisions in the Constitution, the question of whether the incoming or the outgoing president should appoint Puno’s replacement during the mandated 90-day time frame can be argued either way.
Were it not Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who is poised to appoint the new SC chief, the routine filling of the vacancy would pass without much noise and fury. But anything that GMA touches is now examined under the microscope for political viruses.
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CONFLICTING PROVISIONS: For those who came in only now, the conflicting provisions of the Constitution are:
* Section 15, Article VII: “Two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President … shall not make appointments.…”
* Section 4. (1), Article VIII: “The Supreme Court shall be composed of a Chief Justice and 14 Associate Justices…. Any vacancy shall be filled within 90 days from the occurrence thereof.”
A related provision is Section 9, also of Article VIII: “The Members of the Supreme Court and judges of the lower courts shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for every vacancy. Such appointments need no confirmation.”
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CHICKEN & EGG: From my email inbox, I share this note from Rudy Coronel of Batangas City:
“I do not see any rhyme or reason in the Judicial Bar and Council deciding not to submit its list of nominees for Puno’s successor to GMA, especially given that the JBC has now been deliberating on the fitness of the nominees.
“My common sense tells me that such list may only be submitted to no one else but the incumbent president to be relevant for the purpose of recommending appointees to the Judiciary. Such list is going to be moot and a useless scrap of paper if submitted to the incoming president come July. Why? Simply because the present JBC would have gone kaput after June 30 for lack of essential, constitutionally mandated, members, given these inevitable circumstances:
“The JBC’s ex-officio chairman, Chief Justice Puno, would retire on May 17.
“The term of Justice Secretary (Agnes Devanadera), an ex-officio member, would have lapsed, being co-terminus with that of the President.
“The tenure of Rep. Mat Defensor, another ex-officio member as representative of the Congress, would have expired also at the close of the 14th Congress.
“The terms of some other members may have expired also on June 30. Their replacement requires the consent of the Commission of Appointments, still non-existent at that time.
“The JBC, even if construed as a continuing agency, may not be able to effectively function given the foregoing organizational vacuum.
“A solution might be for the new President to reorganize and create a fresh JBC. I don’t think he has enough time to do that before Aug. 17, the expiration of the 90-day period within which the Charter requires Puno to be replaced. Assuming he does have, it is not feasible either since the JBC needs a CJ, and the CJ is nominated by the JBC. Chicken-and-egg situation, isn’t it?
“And so, GMA must — I’m sure she will — appoint Puno’s replacement before she steps down, not as much for her own good as to forestall her successor’s very first administration headache.”
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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