if you’re not clear what the con-ass ram-through was all about, or why people are angry with the lower house of congress, read jarius bondoc’s Do they have SC in their pocket?
and if his suspicion is correct, na kaya pala ang lakas ng loob nina nograles na balewalain ang public disapproval dismay disgust, dahil hawak na ni gma ang supreme court, lalong naging interesante kung sinong i-a-appoint ni gma to fill up two vacant SC seats.
Supreme Court submits 6 names to JBC
By Norman BordadoraMANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court on Tuesday submitted six names for consideration by the Judicial and Bar Council for the two vacancies in the 15-seat high court.
During a meeting, the justices voted for Court of Appeals Justices Josefina Salonga (eight votes), Martin Villarama (seven votes) and Remedios Salazar-Fernando (six votes), Sandiganbayan Justice Francisco Villaruz (seven votes), lawyer Rodolfo Robles (six votes), and University of Sto. Tomas law school Dean Robert Abad (five votes).
The JBC rules state that the council would give due weight to the Supreme Court’s nominees when it draws up a short list of nominees for the President’s consideration in appointing new high court justices.
read also purple s. romero‘s SC nominees: Congress should vote separately on Cha-cha.
…appellate court Justice Martin Villarama opposed the view that economic growth makes charter change indispensable. “The government should always be there [in ownership of public utilities and utilization of natural resources]. The suggested amendment is not urgent at this point,” he stressed.
Since the lower House is dominated by administration allies, Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando … pushed for separate voting in a constituent assembly.
“The House of Representatives and the Senate should vote separately because the lower House could outnumber the Senate,” she warned.
Villaruz explained that the charter should be amended to restrict the power of the Congress to conduct inquiries because it is prone to abuse. Congress, in the exercise of its power to hold investigations in aid of legislation, has interrogated various personalities in controversies hounding the Arroyo administration such as the ‘Hello, Garci’ scandal, the fertilizer scam, and the aborted NBN-ZTE deal.
“There are a number of provisions that should be reviewed. The matter of the power of Congress to conduct investigation should be circumscribed,” he said.
Abad, on the other hand, said that legislation would be more efficient under the parliamentary system.
Robles, whose nomination surprised many because he was previously disqualified from the contention for being “overage,” said that a parliamentary form of government, “coupled with federalism,” is best suited for the Philippines.
naku, parang si villarama lang ang type ko. ayoko kay remedios salazar-fernando, kahit pa for separate voting siya, dahil isa siya sa tatlong court of appeals manangs who acquitted daniel smith. i hope she doesn’t get it, but i wouldn’t be surprised should gma oblige.
in a democratic govt like ours, the rule of the majority prevails. So, as they say, its just a “numbers” game, if you have the majority you rule. Questions of Constitutional law and political idealogy are not important, they are just labels and rules of thumb for discussions and dividing the house. Whether the Third Pillar of our democratic institution will succumb to the virus of “numbers game, we can only speculate, hoped and pray that the Court of Last Judgment will be insulated and inoculated from the evil virus hovering in our midst. otherwise, its time to re-invent the wheel of justice and let the passion of outrage be the spark to light the fire of civil disobedience and burn down this evil empire before it devours our civility. Game na ba kayo??? Puwede bang i-revive ang EDSA I,2 & 3.