Davide fans fail to persuade SC chief to run in ’04 polls

Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. will not seek any elective office in next year’s polls, a Supreme Court spokesman said.

A group of Davide supporters has started gathering a million signatures to convince Davide to seek the presidency in the May elections.

However, Supreme Court spokesman Ismael Khan said Davide, who recently avoided two attempts to impeach him, was not keen on joining politics.

"The Chief Justice has been steadfast in ruling out that possibility. He has consistently affirmed his stand that he wants to finish his term up to 2005," Khan told The STAR yesterday.

Davide is scheduled to retire on Dec. 20, 2005, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.

"His decision has always been to disavow any political ambitions," Khan said. "I believe that he will continue to hold that position."

A newly formed group called Davide Na (Davide Now) has urged the country’s chief magistrate to seek the presidency, citing his clean record and reputation.

Davide got high approval ratings in previous opinion polls, mainly due to the way he handled the unprecedented impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, who was removed by a military-backed popular uprising in January 2001.

Supporter Chuck Crisanto, a chief founder of Davide Na, said the Philippines, which has long been suffering from government corruption and incompetence, needs a leader like Davide.

Crisanto blamed the country’s problems on the political "elite," which he said has always managed to put their own in the country’s leadership.

"Why can’t people draft their own?" he asked during a television interview.

Crisanto said he and some of his members recently had an audience with Davide and asked him if he would be amenable to running next year.

"I will pray about it," he quoted Davide as saying.

Davide served as assemblyman at the Batasang Pambansa, representing the Central Visayas region from 1978 to 1984, during which he was minority leader.

He was also one of the authors of the 1987 Constitution and chairman of the Commission on Elections from 1988 to 1990.

Davide was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1992 and was appointed chief justice in 1998 by then President Joseph Estrada.

Davide gained the nation’s respect in early 2001 when he presided Estrada’s impeachment trial with impeccable impartiality.

On Oct. 23, over 80 congressmen, mostly from the Nationalist People’s Coalition, endorsed an impeachment complaint against Davide.

The complaint alleged that Davide misappropriated money from the Supreme Court’s Judiciary Development Fund — intended for allowances to judges and court personnel — to buy luxury cars and build and repair vacation homes for justices. Davide denies any wrongdoing.

However, the complaint unexpectedly whipped up a firestorm of protest across the country.

Critics said the impeachment complaint was illegal and could undermine the Supreme Court’s role as the last bulwark of democracy.

Davide’s backers said he was being persecuted on a technicality, and speculated the legal assault may be motivated by recent Supreme Court decisions unfavorable to tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., founder of the NPC.

On Nov. 17, the Supreme Court ruled that the complaint was unconstitutional because it was the second against Davide in less than a year.

The country’s Charter states no impeachment complaint may be initiated against the same official more than once a year — a provision being debated by lawmakers.

That prompted the House to vote down the complaint the following day.

On June 2, Estrada filed a complaint against Davide and seven other Supreme Court justices, accusing them of partisan politics to legalize his 2001 ouster by a military-backed popular uprising.

His complaint was dismissed by the House committee on justice on Oct. 22 — a day before a second complaint against Davide was lodged — for being "insufficient in substance."

Estrada is on trial for allegedly running an illegal gambling protection racket and amassing millions of pesos during his 30-month presidency. He denies the allegations.