Category Archives: Philippines

June 24, 2010 · 17:12

Improving relations between the Philippine Judiciary and Executive

According to a Filipino newspaper, the Aquino administration plans to convene the Judicial Executive Legislative Advisory and Coordination Council (Jelacc) fairly early in the new administration. This seems to be an attempt to resolve some of the conflict over Aquino’s criticism of the appointment of the new chief justice, Renato Corona. Then again, this might be difficult given that the Supreme Court is expected to hear a lawsuit against the Aquino family plantation, the Hacienda Lusita, fairly soon.

The news article also mentions a recent World Bank study on Philippine judicial reform. I couldn’t find that study, but I did find one produced by the Asian Development Bank (available here).

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Filed under Philippines, Supreme Court

May 25, 2010 · 19:27

To prosecute, or not to prosecute?

Followers of Rule by Hukum may remember that Philippine president-elect Aquino promised to prosecute Arroyo for her misdeeds. According to a recent consultant report (unfortunately, not available for free but cited in an Asia Times article), Aquino’s promise might drain political capital that might otherwise have gone towards economic reform. It is particularly noteworthy that his party won just 45 seats in the House of Representatives, much less than the 107 controlled by Arroyo’s Lakas-KAMPI-CMD coalition. We’ll stay tuned on how aggressively Aquino’s administration actually pursues corruption charges. There is precedent for such an action – Arroyo’s prosecution of (and eventual amnesty for) former president Estrada.

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Filed under Aquino, Philippines

May 12, 2010 · 14:07

Aquino and Corona win

Just a few updates on the Philippines. First of all, Aquino won a (by Filipino standards) resounding majority in the election for president. As you recall, Aquino has made some interesting pledges regarding judicial reform and impeaching Supreme Court justices. It remains to be seen whether he will follow through.

On another note, Justice Corona was selected as the new Chief Justice. Not a huge surprise. Corona is widely seen as an Arroyo ally, more so than other Arroyo appointees. However, the administration’s endorsement seemed a bit lukewarm, almost as if he were simply the next justice in line:

“Considering that he has been nominated by the JBC, he happens to be the most senior. And nobody I think can question this announcement and his eventual appointment,” Raul Victorino, chief presidential legal counsel, said of Corona’s appointment at a Malacañang news briefing.

Certainly a contrast to Obama’s announcement that he would nominate Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court. I’ll talk more about Corona later when I write a book review about Shadow of Doubt. We’ll see if Aquino accepts or fights that appointment.

Oh, and Arroyo won’t be going away anytime soon. She won election as a congresswoman and is tipped to become speaker of the House.

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Filed under Aquino, Philippines, Supreme Court

May 6, 2010 · 14:31

Just when you thought the Supreme Court was in the tank for Arroyo

I’ve been blogging the past few weeks about the various controversies involving the Philippine Supreme Court, especially its “pro-Arroyo” decision to allow the president to appoint the next chief justice.

However, the court just came out with an opinion that favors the Liberal Party, the party of frontrunner presidential candidate Aquino and critic of Arroyo (his main campaign tactic has been to criticize his opponents of having Arroyo’s blessing). The court overturned a merger of two other parties, the National People’s Coalition and Nationalista Party that would have marginalized the LP. The main reason for the decision appears to be that the two parties missed the deadline for merger. However, according to comments by LP politicians reported in the Philippine Inquirer, the questionable nature of the merger may have played a role:

Quoting from the dissenting opinion of Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, the LP insisted that the NP-NPC merger was a “sham, highly dubious and shameless.”

The LP said that even NPC chairman Faustino Dy Jr., who signed the resolution for the NP-NPC alliance for the NPC, admitted under oath that the coalition was neither approved nor ratified by the NPC National Convention, the party’s highest policy-making body, as provided in the party’s Constitution and By-Laws.

Weak facts make weak legal arguments, and it appears this was a very suspicious set of facts. Keep in mind, the NPC and NP are ideological opposites – the former is leftwing, the latter conservative – so they probably received little sympathy from the justices. More interesting will be seeing how Aquino treats the court if he becomes president, given this ruling in his favor.

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Filed under Philippines, Supreme Court

April 22, 2010 · 19:26

The Lighter Side: The right to favorable polling

Senator Richard Gordon, a candidate in the Philippine presidential election, has sued SWS and Pulse Asia in the Quezon Regional Trial Court for publishing polls that show him lagging behind in fifth place. According to his campaign, the polls have hurt his campaign and rely upon outdated methodology. Here are some excerpts from a PhilStar article on the case: 

Gordon asked for P100,000 in nominal and tem perate damages, P500,000 in exemplary damages, and P50,000 in attorney’s fees.

“Without regard to their fundamental duty to act with justice to observe honesty and good faith, defendants SWS and Pulse Asia, for pecuniary gain and solely for reasons intended to favor their moneyed clients, have published false, fraudulent, biased and defective surveys which have undermined the campaign of Senator Gordon and (former MMDA) Chairman Bayani (Fernando) and made them as unwinnable contenders for president and vice president, respectively,” the 26-page complaint said.

At times, Gordon even sounds like Republican presidential nominee John McCain: 

Gordon, who was on a campaign sortie in Zamboanga City, said Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III maintained his lead in the surveys because of public sympathy rather than his performance in government.

It’ll be fascinating to see how the court deals with it – or if it even takes it seriously!

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Filed under elections, Philippines