Activism, impeachment, dynasty

There is judicial activism when a court undertakes any of the following: a court invalidates the constitutional action of another branch (e.g., legislature, executive); a court fails to adhere to a precedent; a court engages in judicial policymaking; a court departs from accepted interpretive methodology; or when a court engages in result-oriented judging (Kmiec, 2004). In judicial restraint, judges limit their interpretation to the text of the law; whereas in an activist court, members delve into broader societal issues and make themselves architects of legal and social change. Courts as Policymakers: Untangling Judicial Activism in the Philippines by Alicor Panao 22 March 2024 up.edu.ph

To my mind, “activism” is always associated with social-political movements seeking to improve the status quo and make life better for our marginalized majority, i.e., social justice kumbaga. But as it turns out, the Supremes’ kind of “judicial activism” is differently minded, as shown by the Supreme Court’s decision on VP Sara’s impeachment. Parang mas pinahalagahan ng Korte ang kapakanan at kahilingan ng VP na ipa-walang-bisa ang  Articles of Impeachment kaysa ang kapakanan at kahilingan ng taongbayan (represented by the Lower House) na ituloy ang trial (sa Upper House) kung saan Duterte can defend herself and even possibly clear her name. https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/

Nakakagulat ba itong desisyon ng Supremes? Nakakadismaya pero hindi nakakagulat. Siyempre sumagi sa isip ko ang 1973 decision na nagpa-walang-bahala sa pagkaka-“ratify”-kuno ng Martial Law Constitution ni Marcos via raise-your-hands “Citizens Assemblies” — wala na daw magagawa, in effect na daw kasi, or something like that. And then there was Gloria Arroyo’s midnight appointment of CJ Renato Corona in May 2010 even it was against the law. And what about the burial of Marcos Sr. sa Libingan ng mga Bayani noong November 2016, na kahit ang mga Marcos ay tila nahiyâ — behind closed gates and by-invitation-only ang naganap na seremonyas.

BUT HERE’S A SILVER LINING

Check out this convo of a couple of hopeful young thinkers: rappler‘s senior legal reporter and a UP law prof: https://www.youtube.com/

LIAN BUAN: Can SC be judicial activists, too, for the pending anti-dynasty case?

JOHN MOLO:  If we can create guidelines for impeachment, which is the sole prerogative of both Houses of Congress, I’m pretty certain we can finally order Congress to finally pass a law that’s 40 years delayed as required by the Constitution. That’s the silver lining perhaps here .. Kung ito, hindi lang nag-act … hindi gumalaw yung sec-gen … is already grave abuse of discretion … e mas lalo pa kaya the pending political dynasty issue … na required legislation, na 40 years in-ignore. … Kinda gives me more confidence that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Quite a long dark tunnel it’s been, with the Supremes dismissing petitions (since 2013) to compel Congress to enact an anti-dynasty law because daw Congress is a co-equal branch of government … to do so would be to “violate the principle of separation of powers among the three branches of government.” Still pending is the last one filed March 31 2025 by the 1Sambayan Coalition of former justices, retired military officials, priests, academics, and lawyers, calling it a “desperate attempt to give life to the 1987 Constitution” and a “relief from the chokehold political dynasties have placed on this nation.” https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/

And guess who was quick to anticipate the Supremes, forthwith, at the time:

The Supreme Court cannot compel Congress to enact a law banning political dynasties, Senate President Francis Escudero said, citing constitutional limitations.

His remarks come in response to a petition filed by 1Sambayan and other civic groups urging the SC to mandate Congress to fulfill its constitutional obligation under Article II, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution.

“The Supreme Court has said that Congress cannot be forced by a mandamus from the court to pass a law. The legislative process is a political question,” Escudero said at a press briefing on April 3.

I don’t get it (because I’m not a lawyer?).  The Supremes can’t order them around on the matter of political dynasties, sabi niya noon, pero ngayon, on the matter of impeachment, puwedeng puwede?

“The Supreme Court’s ruling is final and immediately executory,” Escudero said. “Whether we like the Supreme Court’s decision or not, we might be called a banana republic (if we do not follow it).”  https://www.manilatimes.net/

And it doesn’t seem to matter na ayon sa OCTA Research, based on a July 12-17 survey:

RANJIT RYE:  A significant number of Filipinos, 8 of 10, feel that the Vice President is innocent and want the impeachment trial to continue. A lot of people don’t see the impeachment just as pananagutan or accountability. A lot of people think of it as due process, a chance for the VP to clear her name.  Storycon 31 July https://www.youtube.com/

Senator Tito Sotto says he will object vociferously if when the Duterte bloc rushes to dismiss the Articles of Impeachment on August 6 without waiting for the Supremes to rule on the Motions for Reconsideration because daw the Supremes just MIGHT hear oral arguments and even reverse their ruling. “We will object!’ Sotto papalag kung may mag-mosyon i-dismiss ang impeachment ni VP Sara
https://www.youtube.com/

But then again, what if the Supremes stick to their guns? Next year na lang uli? But given all those new rules? Asa pa!

Are the Supremes and the Senate in cahoots?

Puwede namang hindi na lang naki-alam ang Korte Suprema, lalo na’t they practically changed, and added to, the rules, in a hair-splitting kind of way, by unanimous vote yet, which has lost the Court a lot of credibility. What if they had stayed out of it instead, left it to the Senate to deal with the Articles of Impeachment, dismiss it with or without a hearing, and let the Senate thereafter be answerable, accountable, to the people who elected them.

We have no such recourse with regard to the Supremes, and that is so unfair. We’re expected to just take their word for it — null and void, ab initio — no matter what we think, kahit may pinag-aralan at nag-iisip at nakakaintindi rin naman kahit hindi tayo abogado.

The mindset is, the Supremes know best when it comes to the rule of law, and that it is best, too, for the country that we all bow to the the wisdom of “the gods of Padre Faura” because theirs is the final say, never mind if we’re not quite persuaded (more like blindsided) by the ponente’s looooong-winded arguments [97 pages of text and footnote], because to insist daw that the Senate ignore the Supremes is to be a “banana republic” kasi ang ibig sabihin, wala tayong “rule of law”.

Thank goodness that former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna have weighed in:

CJ PANGILINAN: … I would have favored – if I were still an incumbent – the issuance of a Status Quo Ante order requiring the parties to maintain the current situation. … As part of due process, I would have asked for Oral Argument before promulgating any decision. If the Court had patiently heard Oral Argument on less important problems like the recognition of foreign divorces and the PhilHealth petitions, why not on this monumental case? In the least, if only to accord respect to a coequal branch of the government, the HOR, I would have called for Oral Argument before making up my mind and casting my vote.

J. AZCUNA:  THE SUPREME COURT CANNOT BE THE ONE TO CRAFT THE RULES TO ENFORCE ART XI OF THE CONSTITUTION. … the Supreme Court members are themselves impeachable officials. So they cannot be the ones to define the rules for their own possible impeachment. This would go against the very heart of due process— No one can be the judge in one’s own case. [CAPS Azcuna’s]

Beyond that and more, from the likes of Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and lawyer Christian Monsod, a framer of the ’87 Constitution  https://www.youtube.com/, my beef is with the timing. February 18 pa noong nag-file ang bigtime abogados ni VP Sara ng petition to nullify the Articles of Impeachment. What took the Court so long?

Check out SP Chiz‘s July 29 statement to the press re the July 25 null-and-void sound effects from the Supreme Court that I bothered to transcribe, for the record. He sounds like he’s feeling quite vindicated about redefining “forthwith” and allowing the “remand”. Totoo kaya ang chismis na linigawan niya at ng isang DDS senator ang Korte Suprema to intervene when, and in the way, they did? Perhaps to spare not just VP Sara but also the Senate from the inevitable intramurals? Or coincidence lang, synchronicity baga, na on the same wavelength siya at ang Supremes?

SP CHIZ: Personally, ang posisyon ko, bilang abogado, ay ito. Nagdesisyon ang Korte Suprema. Sang-ayon ka man doon o hindi, dapat ito’y sundin. Kung hindi, magkakaron tayo ng constitutional crisis at baka tingnan tayo ng mga karatıg-bansa natin at ibang tao na isang banana republic kung saan sinusunod lamang natin ‘yung mga gusto natin.

Bilang pananaw pa sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema. Lima sa labing-isang pinag-utos ng Korte Surpema na isumite ng Kamara ay kabilang sa order o kautusan ng Senate Impeachment mismo, kaugnay sa compliance ng Kamara sa one-year ban. Sabi nga ng isang kritiko ng Senado nung mga panahong ‘yon: Wala daw karapatan ang Senado utusan ang Kamara, na tanungin ang Kamara kaugnay ng one-year ban. Sabi ng kritikong ‘yon, desisyon daw ‘yon ng Korte Suprema. Ngayong nagdesisyon naman ang Korte Suprema, ang sinasabi ng parehong taong iyan ay: the Senate is the sole judge of impeachment cases, dapat ‘wag pansinin.

Ano ba yan. Talaga bang nagbabago kung anong tama at totoo ayon sa batas depende sa gusto natin? Hindi ba dapat, ano man ang gusto natin, dapat ang sundin natin ay ang batas at ang Saligang Batas. At ayon sa Konstitusyon, Korte Suprema lamang ang bukod tanging may kapangyarihan magbigay-buhay at mag-interpret ng ating Saligang Batas. May mga parte din ng desisyon na hindi ako sang-ayon, pero kung babasahin natin ng lubusan, kabilang yung mga separate opinions …

Nakasaad din sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema: hindi nagkaroon, mula’t-mula, ng jurisdiction ang Senado doon sa impeachment complaints dahil sa paglabag sa Bill of Rights, partikular, due process of law.

… kaugnay sa paglabag sa due process kinlaro din nila yon. Na kapag violation ng due process ang pinaguusapan, ay wala na tayong puwede i-review o ibalik pa dahil nawalan na ng jurisdiction mula sa simula ang anumang korte o husgado, ayon sa majority at unanimous decision. https://www.youtube.com/

Violation of due process nga ba?

J. AZCUNA: The Constitution provides that NO PERSON SHALL BE DEPRIVED OF LIFE, LIBERTY OR PROPERTY WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF LAW (Art. III, The Bill of Rights). Someone being impeached does not stand to be deprived of life, nor of liberty, much less of property. So what is the Constitutional basis for insisting on applying due process rules IN ALL PHASES OF IMPEACHMENT?

None.

***

Is the Supreme Court facing a perfect storm? by Joel Ruiz Butuyan

Firestorm over impeachment authority Inquirer Editorial 

The Supreme Court betrayed the people by Tony Lopez

 

 

SONA in the time of multiple distractions and woes

A comprehensive situationer on the eve of BBM’s 4th SONA from my favorite Manila Times columnist —  a farmer and a thinker who doesn’t shoot from the hip. 

By Marlen V. Ronquillo

TRADITION dictates that the spotlight should be trained on the president, and the president alone, not only during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) — to take place tomorrow, July 28 — but also days before, during preparations for the annual event. But the Dutertes, former allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., are not bound by this tradition and will say anything, fair or foul, to divert the nation’s attention from him. Inviolable political traditions are apparently not part of the Dutertes’ dictionary.

Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing impeachment charges over her alleged failure to conform to basic ledger and accounting practices and to get the names of her spending recipients right, delved into the more complex field of water science — hydrology — a tortured claim that was instantly mocked by Claire Castro, Malacañang’s fierce spokesman, who herself may not have any grounding on water science. You think of Castro in these terms: as loyal to President Marcos as Steven Cheung is to United States President Donald Trump. Their principals never err.

After the vice president ventured into a rigid field of specialization that was definitely beyond her intellectual reach, her younger brother, Davao City’s Acting Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, did the Act 11 — something that was also beyond the bounds of normal political behavior — challenging Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III to a boxing match.

If Baste’s intent was to distract Torre from what he was supposed to do, which was to prepare PNP field men for security work at the SONA, it did not work. Torre said yes to the challenge, set a date for it and even injected a sense of nobility into the younger Duterte’s grotesque behavior. Let us do a charity boxing match, with the proceeds going to those affected by the recent storms, Torre proposed.

Baste, for one reason or another, made a demand before accepting the challenge: a drug test for President Marcos, which was off-tangent to his original challenge and a sign of him clearly chickening out. Baste probably saw videos of Torre’s multiple push-ups and preparation for the match.

Was it broadcaster Waldy Carbonell who said the Dutertes do not really like fair fights? Even with the Dutertes’ showboating deflated by the President’s subalterns, multiple woes on several fronts will still be the gloomy backdrop of the SONA speech tomorrow. Days of incessant rains induced by Severe Tropical Storm Crising and Typhoon Emong — a months’ worth, weather experts say — overwhelmed the three regions that contribute 60 to 70 percent of the Philippines’ yearly economic output. Many parts of Metro Manila, Southern Luzon and Central Luzon were forced to declare a state of calamity due to the flooding the rains caused.

Television news vividly captured the anguish of people in the flooded areas: the dead bodies, the crowded evacuation centers, the long lines for relief goods, the low-lying residential areas that were turned into “Waterworld” overnight, and the creaky dams.

The other casualties, far from the media loop, were unreported. Near the field where I planted Napier grass for animal feed, the “sabog-tanim” of my neighboring rice farmer was inundated, the days-old rice sprouts swept into many directions. The “labanderas,” the ice cream vendors, the hollow-block makers and all the marginal workers who need the sun to ply their trade were in a state of both grief and paralysis.

All those who farmed know this: after a week or two of continuous rains, cash crops like “ampalaya” (bitter gourd) will wither and die after being exposed to only a week of harsh sunshine. My farmer-neighbor with the goner sabog-tanim also planted plots of bitter gourd and string beans. I do not know where he would get his next sustenance post-Crising and Emong. And how many small farmers across Central Luzon are in the same prostrate state? President Marcos will deliver his SONA amid a discouraging international context: the greatest trade shock in recent history that was the result of Trump’s unilateral imposition of punitive tariffs on trading partners, big and small. The President recently met with Trump to negotiate for a lower tariff. Trump responded with a 1-percent reduction of his earlier 20-percent tariff on Philippine goods shipped to the US — a clear “consuelo de bobo” — in exchange for zero tariffs on US goods shipped to our country.

The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and almost all multilateral institutions have predicted slower global economic growth this year, next year and in 2027 after that without directly blaming the real culprit: the punitive tariffs that have disrupted a stable global trading order since World War II. The Philippines, the multilaterals said, will also fail to meet its growth target.

China and the European Union, with their sizable economies, can probably work their way around the tariffs and survive even without US trade. The Philippines and other smaller economies may just have to wait for Trump’s exit from office, which is more than three years away. Meanwhile, they have to live with the tariff-induced lumps and bumps.

I do not know how the people in Malacañang can spin a hopeful and forward-looking SONA with the domestic and international backdrop both gloomy and discouraging. Maybe they can borrow from the Duterte playbook, which is this: don’t let the facts get into the way of a triumphant SONA.

Bagyó, bahâ, boksing, bangág

Now that the rainy season is always also flood season, thanks to decades of deforestation and corruption and bad governance, this week has been more depressing than usual, with most of our kababayans on disaster-mode, tapos lumabas pa yung balita na bilyunbilyong piso na naman ang nakalaan for flood control programs sa 2025 budget na alam naman nating walang patutunguhan as usual dahil sa laki ng komisyon ng mga mambabatas at mga kontratista, at dahil wala naman talagang master plan na sinusunod para kabit-kabit at pang-kabuoan ang solusyon.

ALEX MAGNO. Shortly, we will be given some numerical estimate of the destruction caused by rain. It will always be an understatement. It cannot possibly quantify all the horrors, the discomfort, the dislocation, the loss of productive time and the great heroism put in by our small army of rescuers – all these escape national accounting.

We are wrapped in an overpowering sense of helplessness inflicted on our people by incessant calamity. My phone is full of calls for prayer from those completely daunted by the warning that rains will continue pouring the coming days. Having given up on government, our people are pleading for divine intervention. https://www.philstar.com/

Yes, the collective sense of helplessness is more pronounced than usual, with, I imagine, a simmering stewing discontent, coming, hopefully, from the populace being now more aware, better informed, via their smart phones, about who is, are, to blame for the terrible miserable state of affairs countrywide, i.e., no less than our powerful government officials, past and present — fat politicians and their minions and subalterns — who don’t really care about nation, only about making hay while the sun shines, because it can’t go on forever, it’s not sustainable, one day the system will collapse, crumble, from sheer instability.

MEANWHILE, as we await BBM‘s SONA (na sana hindi nakakasuya) and some First Lady video that’s soon to drop (or so we hear, at sana fake nga) and the Supreme Court decision on the impeachment (na sana ipaubaya sa Senado) and VP Sara‘s impeachment trial (na sana masimulan na nang matapos na), like everyone else I am so looking forward to the boxing match that Davao City Vice Mayor Baste Duterte sort of challenged PNP Chief Gen. Nicolas Torre to.

“Matapang ka lang naman, you have the position. Pero kung suntukan tayo, alam ko kaya kita kung gano’n lang. You are a coward. You are nothing without your position,” said Duterte during an episode of his podcast Basta Dabawenyo on July 20.

The PNP chief accepted the challenge on Wednesday, July 23, and suggested turning the 12-round bout into a ‘boxing match for a cause,’ aimed at raising funds for victims of the recent floods and southwest monsoon or habagat. https://dzrh.com.ph/

Di lang malinaw kung saan magaganap — Araneta Coliseum, Amoranto Stadium, o Rizal Memorial — pero ang mas dumadagundong na tanong ay, sisipot ba si Baste? Sabi ni Ronald Llamas sa Storycon, kung hindi daw sumipot, ok lang, basta nandoon si General Torre at “yung mga iba, magdadala ng mga relief para sa mga nasalanta, magiging parang relief operation.”   https://www.youtube.com/

At heto pa si Senator Ping Lacson who tweeted early Thursday morning @iampinglacson:

A credible source told me last night, the CEO of a popular resort casino hotel, a well-known philanthropist is willing to open their ballroom for the “charity boxing match” between Nick Torre and Baste Duterte. For the sake [of] the many poor flood victims, let’s do it! https://x.com/iampinglacson/

***

BREAKING NEWS. Thursday, just before 6 p.m. the Dabawenyo responded to the general:

BASTE: ‘Wag ka mag-alala, Torre, kasi matagal ko na talagang gustong makabugbog ng unggoy. Kung gusto mo lang talaga ng suntukan, bakit kailangan mo pa ng charity-charity. Why do you need … kailangan mo pang gamitin yang nangyayari ngayon na baha diyan sa Metro Manila. If you’re really serious about this, kung gusto mo yung charity na yan, and you’ve laid some conditions, let me lay my own conditions for the event. Kung serious ka talaga, ha. These are my conditions. Pakiusapan mo yang amo mo na presidente, and let it come out of his mouth, that all elected officials should undergo a hair follicle drug test. Papalagan ko yang charity-charity mo na yan. Walang problema. If it will answer the issues nitong bansa natin, I can do that. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=baste%20torre%20fight

I’m so disappointed, lol. Bakit biglang na-drag in (no pun intended) si BBM?  Eh it was all about Baste bragging that he could beat Torre in a fistfight. Gusto ko lang naman makita, maalaman, kung totoo. Given that Torre is all of 18 years older than he, Baste is kinda llamado. What if, pinatumba muna niya si Torre, AND THEN he followed it up with that demand — na hindi pa rin masusunod malamang, na magpa-drug test lahat ng elected officials, but at least then he would be coming from a stronger position than now, when he’s being seen as the one pala who’s duwag (or so commenters are saying on facebook threads).

And then again, baka wala lang sa kondisyon si Baste, so he’s playing for time? Which would mean that Torre had a fighting chance sana, kung sa Sunday na ang laban. Shucks, we’ll never know now. Back to regular programming, ika nga.