| C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S |
 |
| Jonathan De la Cruz |
No, Sir. It is called obeying the orders of the high court. This was the advice of the leaders of Congress, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., who reminded House Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada and House committee on justice chairman Niel Tupas Jr. to take pause and suspend the hearings on the impeachment complaints filed against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Tañada and Tupas had been leading the posse against Gutierrez managing to gather enough votes to push the two impeachment complaints against the Ombudsman at committee level as “sufficient in form and substance” thence scheduling the “evidentiary hearings” — the first ever in recent memory — on Sept. 28 and 29. Up until the high tribunal issued that status quo order Tupas’ committee had vowed to work on this case as expeditiously as possible, hinting that they have the numbers to get the same on the floor in a jiffy. Well, the court said wait a minute and ordered the parties to submit their respective memorandum on the issues at hand within a non-extendible period of 10 days which prompted the duo to raise hell vowing to “defy the high court after claiming that the order was an encroachment on the exclusive authority of Congress to hear impeachment cases,” which in their view no body, not even the highest court, can stop. Well, they got some lessons in the law not to mention humility from the seasoned leaders.
The leaders’ point. Said Enrile: “Don’t be emotional, follow the Supreme Court and give it enough time to mull over the impeachment cases against Gutierrez... That is normal. In any court if they are presented with complex issues they want time to study the problem. It does not necessarily mean that they have made up their mind. It’s simply that they want more time to consider the issues involved and so they will tell the parties to wait a minute, stay put, give us time to study.” Both he and Belmonte reminded their congressional colleagues to “abide by the high tribunal’s order as a courtesy to the co-equal branch of the government...” warning in the process that any defiance of the ruling could result in “chaos in the administration of public affairs.”.... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100919com5.html
0 comments
Post a Comment