Enrile questions INC ‘logic’ vs Sara impeach raps
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile warned that the country would face a “very detrimental precedent” if Filipinos followed the implied reasoning of the recent Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) rally opposing efforts to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday night, two days after the INC’s “National Rally for Peace,” the 100-year-old former Senate President challenged the INC’s supposed support of President Marcos’ call on his congressional allies not to pursue the Vice President’s impeachment, which is an exercise of due process to exact accountability.
“There is a bigger question,” Enrile said. “Can the INC, with all its members, amend the 1987 Constitution or suspend any of its provisions? Are we prepared to discard or sacrifice the value of RULE OF LAW for a person or a group of persons?”
Enrile explained that impeachment is “just a constitutional legal process” to remove an official from office if found culpable based on evidence. It is not meant to send the official to prison.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court and constitutional commissions, and the Ombudsman are impeachable public officers.
As the Senate President in 2012, Enrile presided over the impeachment trial of then Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution for not disclosing all his assets as constitutionally required.
On Feb. 28 that year, the INC also held rallies around the country, drawing a crowd of more than half a million at Quirino Grandstand. The assembly was billed as a “Grand Evangelical Mission,” similar to the peace rally last Monday, but was a subtle signal to Malacañang not to convict Corona.
On May 29, 2012, Enrile and 19 other senators voted to convict Corona, whose lead lawyer was retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, an INC member. Mr. Marcos, then a senator, voted against Corona’s impeachment along with Senators Joker Arroyo and Miriam Defensor Santiago.
‘Long-term consequences’
In his Facebook post, Enrile warned against following the implied reasoning behind the INC rally, which is not to let due process take its course in the three impeachment complaints against Duterte in the House of Representatives for the sake of “peace and unity.”
“As a nation and a state, we will incur a very detrimental precedent if we follow the logic implicit in the INC rally that they mounted. Are we prepared and ready to face the long-term consequences of that INC move?” he asked.
In November last year, the President said that Congress should not pursue the impeachment of Duterte. He pointed out that the Vice President was “unimportant” and her impeachment would just be a waste of time that would distract lawmakers from doing their jobs and won’t benefit a single Filipino.
Palace unmoved
Malacañang was unmoved by Enrile’s Facebook post.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Thursday said the President has “always nurtured a culture of open ventilation of ideas” among members of the Cabinet, and that it was this environment that Enrile decided to speak on the issue.
“While his thoughts may carry weight and are always valued, his is one of many that the President seriously considers. Nonetheless, the President’s stand on the issue concerned remains unchanged,” Bersamin said.
The executive secretary said Mr. Marcos’ openness to opposing points of view from Cabinet members had enriched policymaking because of the “diverse views resulting in decisions distilled from a wealth of varied experiences, different disciplines and special expertise of those who contribute.”
The INC, known for bloc voting during elections, said the rally was not meant to be a political gathering. But sect leaders urged lawmakers to address major problems like the high food prices, lack of jobs and poverty, and not to engage in politicking such as moves to impeach the Vice President.
Sagip Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, an INC member and supporter of the Vice President, said the INC was not taking sides in the rift between the President and the Vice President, and that they just wanted the two high-ranking leaders to work together.
Sara breakaway
Duterte broke off from the Cabinet last July when she quit as education secretary. Months later, she became openly hostile to the President and called him a liar and a thief in a profanity-laced tirade during an online press briefing.
She also said that she had arranged for the assassination of the President, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez if she dies in an alleged plot to kill her.
Although the influential INC mustered large crowds across the country to attend the Jan. 13 peace rally, including an estimated 1.8 million at Quirino Grandstand, critics of the Vice President were undeterred in pushing for her impeachment.
The impeachment complaints accused her of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, bribery and other high crimes.
All the complaints alleged that Duterte misused hundreds of millions of pesos in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.
Edsa Shrine Mass
Members of various people’s organizations, social movements, sectoral groups and religious leaders gathered for a Mass at Edsa Shrine in Quezon City that served as a platform for reflection, prayer and a collective call for holding public officials, particularly the Vice President, accountable.
They wore white and black shirts with peach-colored ribbons, symbolizing their commitment to impeach Duterte to uphold transparency and justice in governance.
They were joined by Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña, endorser of the first impeachment complaint against Duterte; former Sen. Leila de Lima, spokesperson for the complainants of the first complaint; leaders from the Magdalo Party-List group; former presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles; and Francis “Kiko” Aquino Dee, grandson of the late President Corazon Aquino.
The “Misa ng Sambayanan: May Kapayapaan kung May Pananagutan” (People’s Mass: There is Peace when there is Accountability) was a virtual retort to the INC’s “National Rally for Peace.”
“There is no peace without justice and no justice without accountability,” said Cendaña, adding that every delay in the impeachment process would embolden the Vice President and weaken democratic institutions.
Not without justice
Dee, one of the impeachment complainants, said “peace and accountability are related.”
“If there is no justice and honesty, there won’t be genuine peace. The appeal of the people is simple: a government that is honest, responsible and humane,” he said.
De Lima said the impeachment of the Vice President was a moral and constitutional imperative.
“Impunity thrives in silence and inaction,” she said. “Without transparency, there can be no trust. The Vice President’s blatant disregard for accountability demands swift and decisive action. The Filipino people deserve no less.”
