More serious than we think

What are we to make of the fight between the executive and the judiciary? One way is to see it is as a political struggle. Instead of working as a government of three co-equal branches of government the executive wants the other two branches to bend to its will. The legislative branch can be written off. In a game of numbers, the administration has the numbers. Moreover it has little choice but follow the executive because of its power on the pork barrel.

It is different with the judiciary. It is protected by Section 3, Article VIII, of the Constitution which provides that “the judiciary shall enjoy fiscal autonomy, and appropriations for the judiciary may not be reduced by the legislature below the amount appropriated for the previous year, and, after approval, shall be automatically and regularly released.”

It will be recalled that just a few months ago, the executive attempted to seize some P2 billion from the court’s share in the P101 billion budget of Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) under the Office of the President. “Our demand is clear. We just want the government to adhere to the Constitution,” court employees said.

From its proposed budget of over P20 billion, Congress has approved a P15.7-billion allocation for 2012.

It was a bruising fight with the justices being threatened with impeachment if they declared the MPBF unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court stood its ground.

If Malacañang had insisted on the money grab the Supreme Court would have fought back. The Constitution would be behind it.

Taken with the MPBF case and the present skirmishing on former president GMA’s cases and the TRO, the conflict between the two branches go much deeper than it would seem. The attempt to financially emasculate the Supreme Court is ominous.

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It is difficult to see how the second Aquino government can claim to be in pursuit of his mother’s legacy. He is doing the very opposite of what the first Aquino sought to strengthen. 

The late Cory Aquino has rightfully been extolled for toppling a dictator. She left a legacy that was intended to return to the rule of law and to abide by the checks and balances of a three-branch government. In pursuit of democratization she scheduled both national and local elections as soon as it was possible.

She could very well have retained the dictatorial powers of Marcos through a revolutionary government as some allies advised but she refused. She made it clear that rightly or wrongly she wanted to leave a legacy of democratic governance.

That is not the path the present Aquino government is following. Indeed, it is greatly feared that the agenda is to emasculate the other branches of government even without a revolutionary government.

If the crisis worsens and the state suffers, we may reach a critical point when the sovereign people will have to decide on how to save democracy in this country.

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For those who are not in Facebook here is a hilarious posting from New York from Lino Celle of Radio Pinoy USA :

“Noy-Noy Aquino is exactly who was depicted in the movie Moon over Parador, it’s hilarious. Richard Dreyfus played the role of a dumb bachelor president of a beautiful island. He’s dictated upon by 5 influential families on how to run the gov’t. When he delivers a speech, it wouldn’t matter to him if he was already reading the lyrics from Man from La Mancha, ‘to beat the unbeatable foe, to right the unrightable wrong, . . . to bear the unbearable sorrows . . . and to dream the impossible dream !’.

“Then after he hears the clapping prompted by his sidekicks his pimping aide tells him, ‘It was a hit. It’s a hit, Mr. President’.

“He then meets an aging CIA Agent. The American, running around wearing khaki shorts and a native hat, posing as a retiree gets into the presidential shaded limo and grabs the balding president’s shoulders and screamed, ‘You miserable wimp, we’re tired of your drinking buddies’ crap, you just read a wrong script!.” LOL

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When Prince Andrew came to visit Manila I told him we had a mutual friend  Gene Nocon, a Filipino photographer. Gene had taught Prince Andrew photography, a hobby he took up assiduously. The prince wanted to know where Nocon was? He had moved from London to San Diego. His nephew, Neil Andrew N. Nocon ( Upsilon Batch 87) and provincial board member for the 2nd district of Laguna wrote that Gene died recently.

Too few Filipinos know that he was an outstanding photographer. Here is a part of the obituary written about him.

“Having experimented with black-and-white (B&W) development in high school and college, Gene volunteered as a photographic printer for the US Military Stars and Stripes newspaper working for the legendary photographer/editor Red Grandy. This marked the beginning of his incredible photography career. His unique skills and artistic talent in B&W development resulted in close associations with acclaimed names in the photography industry.

“In 1980 Gene entered a photograph in an annual contest that would earn him the ‘Ilford Printer of the Year’ award. This accolade highlighted the role and importance of the photographer’s printer, and the photograph was showcased at an exhibition in England called ‘The Photographic Print’. Gene’s achievements in the photography industry were brought to the attention of HRH Prince Andrew, who had an interest in photography. As Gene would tell it, Prince Andrew walked into Gene’s The Photographers Workshop, asked for Gene, then their photography relationship began. Gene would later take the photo of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson used as the royal wedding commemorative stamp.

“Highlighted among many of his other accomplishments in and contributions to photography are his television series Nocon on Photography for Thames Television London, his Nocon Timer (electronic exposure aid for photographic development), and his books, Photographic Printing and Nocon on Photography.

“Gene was also honored as Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) for his contributions to photography. He helped found RPS’s Distinction Panel for Photographic Printers and served as its first chairman.

“His appreciation for new technology led him to explore new concepts and ideas in digital media and photographic art rendering, a technique that bears the hallmarks of a painting. Gene’s collection of these ‘paintings’ are displayed in his on-line collection ‘Fauxtographs’. Gene was an expert at photo editing and gave seminars in digital enhancement techniques to photographers at all skill levels.”