A day after joining fellow NP senatorial candidates in appealing the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing the President to appoint the next chief justice, Satur Ocampo is calling on all presidential candidates to lead mass protests against what he said was Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's "shameless abuse of power."
"It is time for all the presidential candidates to set aside their personal differences and political rivalries to unite against President Arroyo's latest ploy to consolidate her hold on the judiciary," said Ocampo.
"Let us cross party-lines and unite in a massive show of force against Macapagal-Arroyo's penchant for midnight appointments which are in blatant violation of the spirit and letter of the Constitution. Our presidential candidates and their parties can and should oppose this midnight appointment and prove that they will not tolerate this desecration of the Constitution," Ocampo said.
He said that presidential candidates should take the lead in denouncing the midnight appointment and present a united front in a symbolic protest. "All the presidentiables marching side by side with their supporters along Ayala Ave. will send the strongest signal that this nation will not allow such blatant abuses of power."
He said he will personally bring up the proposal to NP standard bearer Manny Villar when they meet in Isabela for a sortie on Thursday.
Ocampo said that at this juncture, it doesn’t matter who is appointed as long as it’s the new president who will appoint the next chief justice. "Pres. Arroyo is nearing the end of her term which many still maintain to be illegitimate, but she persists on abusing her authority. The Supreme Court is supposed to be the bastion of justice, but it's evident that nothing is sacrosanct to Macapagal-Arroyo and even the judiciary is not exempt to her self-serving, manipulative ploys," he said.
Ocampo, Bayan Muna representatives Teodoro Casiño and Neri Colmenares have already filed House Bill 7109 against midnight appointments.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
BAYAN MUNA CALLS ON CONGRESS TO CONVENE, PASS SUCCESSION LAW AND ELECT NEW SENATE PRESIDENT
Media Release
23 March 2010
Bayan Muna partylist called on Congress today to convene before the start of the local campaign on March 26 to prevent an Arroyo hold-over government and the resulting upheaval if there will be failure of election. Bayan Muna challenges Pres. Gloria Arroyo to call for a special session of Congress for the purpose of electing a new Senate President and passing the important law on succession. Congress failed to pass the ‘failure of election’ bills filed by Bayan Muna (House Bill No. 6786: “An Act Providing for an Interim Succession in the Presidency in Case of Vacancy During the Beginning of the Term of the Said Office”) and Rep. Edno Joson (HB 6945 and HB 7108) due to lack of quorum. Bayan Muna’s bill proposes that the Chief Justice acts as acting president should there be failure of election to prevent Pres. Arroyo from extending her term.
“Congress has the time and the duty to pass these important measures. Twelve senators are not running, and local campaign has not yet started. It is illogical for Speaker Nograles to declare that there will be no quorum since congressmen are already campaigning. This is an illegal act as Congressmen are not supposed to campaign now,” said Bayan Muna partylist representative Neri Javier Colmenares. “Sen. Enrile who presided over martial law in 1972 cannot be trusted to turn over the senate presidency smoothly especially if the ‘perceived’ presidential winner is not his ally. It must be noted that he is running under the slate of a presidential candidate. The need to elect a new Senate President is obvious," Colmenares said.
"Pres. Arroyo has clearly displayed her intention to control the AFP, the Supreme Court and Congress. She is transporting her entire cabinet to Congress by ordering them to run for district congressional seats and the partylist," Colmenares revealed.
“We cannot trust Arroyo's word. Years ago, she said she will not run for president, yet she did and reigned for nine years; recently she said she had no plans of running again, but now she is running for Congress; and now Malacanang is saying there will be no failure of election. The failure of election is not idle talk. Congress must act now or suffer being closed just like what transpired during martial law, Rep. Colmenares warned. ###
23 March 2010
BAYAN MUNA CALLS ON CONGRESS TO CONVENE, PASS SUCCESSION LAW AND ELECT NEW SENATE PRESIDENT:
Challenges Pres. Arroyo to call for special session of Congress for that purpose alone
Challenges Pres. Arroyo to call for special session of Congress for that purpose alone
Bayan Muna partylist called on Congress today to convene before the start of the local campaign on March 26 to prevent an Arroyo hold-over government and the resulting upheaval if there will be failure of election. Bayan Muna challenges Pres. Gloria Arroyo to call for a special session of Congress for the purpose of electing a new Senate President and passing the important law on succession. Congress failed to pass the ‘failure of election’ bills filed by Bayan Muna (House Bill No. 6786: “An Act Providing for an Interim Succession in the Presidency in Case of Vacancy During the Beginning of the Term of the Said Office”) and Rep. Edno Joson (HB 6945 and HB 7108) due to lack of quorum. Bayan Muna’s bill proposes that the Chief Justice acts as acting president should there be failure of election to prevent Pres. Arroyo from extending her term.
“Congress has the time and the duty to pass these important measures. Twelve senators are not running, and local campaign has not yet started. It is illogical for Speaker Nograles to declare that there will be no quorum since congressmen are already campaigning. This is an illegal act as Congressmen are not supposed to campaign now,” said Bayan Muna partylist representative Neri Javier Colmenares. “Sen. Enrile who presided over martial law in 1972 cannot be trusted to turn over the senate presidency smoothly especially if the ‘perceived’ presidential winner is not his ally. It must be noted that he is running under the slate of a presidential candidate. The need to elect a new Senate President is obvious," Colmenares said.
"Pres. Arroyo has clearly displayed her intention to control the AFP, the Supreme Court and Congress. She is transporting her entire cabinet to Congress by ordering them to run for district congressional seats and the partylist," Colmenares revealed.
“We cannot trust Arroyo's word. Years ago, she said she will not run for president, yet she did and reigned for nine years; recently she said she had no plans of running again, but now she is running for Congress; and now Malacanang is saying there will be no failure of election. The failure of election is not idle talk. Congress must act now or suffer being closed just like what transpired during martial law, Rep. Colmenares warned. ###
Satur: firm "No" to military take over in case of poll failure
Media Release
Satur: firm "No" to military take over in case of poll failure
Satur: firm "No" to military take over in case of poll failure
Makabayan senatorial bet and Nacionalista Party guest candidate Satur Ocampo today said that Malacanang has itself to blame if no one believes its assertions that there will be no hitches or delays in Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo' s exit from the presidency in June.
"Pres. Arroyo has lied before – back in 2002 she said that she would not run for the presidency but she reneged on her word. The more denials Malacanang issues regarding the matter of Arroyo's exit, the more people become skeptical. In any case, the Filipino people will remain watchful against any and all attempts to keep Arroyo in office beyond June 30, 2010," Ocampo said.
Ocampo also said he is against proposals that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) take over in the event of a failure of elections. He said that allowing the military to assume power should not even be considered. "A military take-over is not even an option. We cannot risk handing over the reigns of government to a military junta given the AFP's record in abusing civil, political and human rights," he said.
Ocampo said that should there be a failure of elections, a civilian body comprised of church leaders, grassroots people's organizations, political parties and credible government officials can stand in and fill the vacuum. "Civilian authority must never be ceded to the military. We have learned our lessons from the dark years of martial law. This body can temporarily perform administrative functions as more comprehensive remedies are put in place to solve the problem of the vacuum in office," he said.
"But why are we even discussing such a possibility such as a military take-over? Does Malacanang know something the rest of us don't about the upcoming elections? We have the sneaking suspicion that Malacanang should actually be behind all this talk of failure of elections as a means to condition the public into accepting such a fatal possibility and so Filipinos will end up lowering their guard," Ocampo said.
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