CJ: Resolve or restraint? SILVER LINING Dean Ernest Maceda 03/04/2010

CJ: Resolve or restraint? SILVER LINING Dean Ernest Maceda 03/04/2010 So she plans to push through with the appointment of Chief Justice during the transition period. What’s new? The push for Chief Justice is but the latest in a long line of radical positions taken by this administration on the President’s constitutional power. And, as we have come to expect, it is also the latest in the litany of executive actions that have earned universal criticism. The context, of course, for all of Arroyo’s controversial interpretations has always been the issue of the questionable legitimacy of her election. From day one, owing to her tenuous claim to office, Arroyo has had to assert her power in a “use it or lose it” situation. Beholden as she is to so many, the tendency, as we have seen, has been for her to abuse her prerogatives, threatening to warp the understanding thereof by future administrations. She has pushed the envelope so far out that succeeding Presidents may have difficulty accepting a diminution of her legacy of expanded presidential power while succeeding constituencies grapple with the chilling effect of their cynicism on their expectations of government.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100304com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Out of power FRONTLINE No worries? focus Afghan police and army prove a mixed class for US officers BLURBAL THRUSTS HGC officials on the dock SILVER LINING CJ: Resolve or restraint? VIEWPOINTS Imprudence LETTER On responsible journalism