CPR policy ‘unconstitutional’ — Supreme Court

First the EO 464, then now, the CPR…Oh, I hope that this is just the beginning of better days ahead…Wala naman segurong kapalit–like the Cha-Cha and/or 1017 (i.e., State of Emergency)????? Still, IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL WHETHER THE SUPREME COURT IS TRULY “FOR THE PEOPLE.” We must not heave a sigh of relief yet. Many must continue to wait in bated breath…just in case GMA and her cohorts hit us from left field. After all, the woman IS NASTY and TREACHEROUS!

“Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor has been quoted to have said the Palace does NOT see the ruling as ‘a total setback.’ ”

when you hear “the situation is under control,” that means they’ve lost control
when you hear “it is not a serious situation,” that means they’re considering sterner measures
when you hear “the situation is fluid,” that means they’re panicking
when you hear “the situation is by no means irreversible,” that means they anticipate losing
when you hear “the situation is by no means lost,” it means they already have and are making ready to flee

malacañang has mastered the art of orwellian doublespeak. perhaps, “a minor inconvenience” would be appropriate, eh mike?

The Supreme Court will also rule against the Arroyo administration on Proclamation 1017. While I am relieved with the way the Supreme Court ruled in the EO 464 and CPR cases, we should bear in mind that these acts are blatantly unconstitutional and in my view indefensible.

The decision that I am worried about is the one on Arroyo’s initiative to amend the Constitution. The Court’s decision in Santiago v. COMELEC is too precarious and there are too many vested interests backing the attempt to amend the Constitution. Unfortunately, many of the Justices have their own ideas about how to amend the Constitution and I am afraid that they will find a way to justify the administration’s efforts at “initiative.” After all this, President Arroyo may yet survive this crisis – as our new Prime Minister way after 2010.

i feel the report above by vinia is lacking on emphasis on the specifics of the no-rally-no-permit argument. in summary, the report discussed the recommendation regarding sec. 15 of BP 880 and the unconstitutionality of the CPR.

the high court clarifies’ these procedure to no-application-no-rally policy. that a mere application filed for 2days will serve as permit.

not all will read the full text of the courts decision.

the media, including pcij, should help put emphasis on that note. so that the people would know and so that the pnp and police would know that the people knows these constitutional police boundaries relating to freedom of speech and assembly.

as of this writing, pnp spokesperson pagdilao is already implying that they will still disperse no-permit rallies. I believe that statement is already an act of contempt for not adhering to or trying to confuse the official ruling of the high court.

Jester-in-exile,
I REALLY like your comments! Real cool and funny!
Thanks.

The Court gave local governments 30 days to designate specific freedom parks in their jurisdictions. “In this Decision, the Court goes even one step further in safeguarding liberty,” said the ruling.

If, after the deadline, no such parks are identified, all public parks and plazas of the municipality or city shall be deemed freedom parks. No prior permit will then be required to use those areas for public assemblies.

I like this action of SC. I hope some local government officials and administrators are dumb enough to ignore the deadline.

i wish and pray,that with this decission that CPR being unconstitutional,let us all freedom loving,honest and good men women filipinos unite and oust this evil GMA and her evil cabals and minions in the goverment..this GMA and her evil group must be ousted the soonest and put in jail..and they GMA and her evil group be an example that in this world and in this country we loved the Philippines..they who commit crime..does not pay!!! Let us all unite and oust this liliputian dwarf pretending to be a giant.
no evil will triumph if we all good men and women will do our thing..
Oust this evil GMA and her evil group.now the soonest!!

Really amazed what they have done to Sen. Jamby and Ex-Pres. Tito Guingona, as well as the runnung priest FR? and so with the security guard of Jamby and all those kasama sa rally na yon, puro sila mga basang sisiw on that rally just to step their foot in that historic freedom hall, Chino Roces Freedom Park. It was degrading on my part, as a woman looking on the pics and TV footages of Sen. Jamby, kamuntik nasiyang bold star sa rally na yon ah degrading us filipina women, with her status, so with VP Tito, wala ka bang utang na loob GMA??? i believe VP Tito your Ex-VP during your revolutionary government?binasa mo siya? basang sisiw talaga at napadegrading in his status. Who cannot forget his rolling and big eyes defending the country in the Impeachment Trial of the Century, the Estrada Impeachment Trial as well as his Loyalty support to you in order for you to be in power now. How can we forget all those basang sisiw, mga binogbog at pinagtitira sa mga public assembly? who cannot forget Ex-DSWD Dinky Soliman, your best friend?, just wearing her very beautiful Blackk & White T-shirt strolling in the public Roxas Blvd, then in the front page, hinuli na mga pulis mo??? very sad and now the latest Cong. Crispin Beltran, at that age? he can still commit rebellion?? History will repeat itself again with our situation,, Kudos to the Supreme Court Justices for throwing up CPR….. CPR from the very is start unconstitutional… kahit tanongin nyo lahat ng mga Pinoy, mula Aparri hanggang Jolo.

I think the latest two promulgations of the SC has been fair. I would like to beleave that we must not stop at just the titels of things as unconstitutional or not.
I would like to beleave that we must learn to read the fine print & try to understand what the SC is trying to tell us all.
It seems that the latest promulgation is simply trying to put so civility in our reckless democracy.
It seems to me the SC is just tring to remind us also of our obligations & trying to put so order in our democracy.
The SC is telling us that there is no absolute Power just like there are no absolute Rights.
I don’t think the SC is trying to be the “kakampi” of any side.
E.O. 464 has not been declared as unconstitutional. The SC has given guide lines on how to go about matters.As a result, The Palace & Congress are now in a dialogue. If there where really any winners then the Senate can rejoice, but they are not & are insted in a dialogue.
Remember, the SC has upheld The Presedents “executive previlage”.
The Senators have been elected as “Law Makers” & not as professional investigators that lead to a power struggle.
There are urgent Laws that have to be made. The Bio-fuel Law affects all of us & so are other urgent Laws that have a long term benifit for the country.
There is never enough time to do the things that have to be done.
Are we therefore consenting that “politicaly tainted” investigations take the place of crafting Laws be better?
Are we so obsesed w/ “political dramas” that do absolutly nothing to improve our lives? That make us only expectators while others continue to decide our destiny?
Yes, The SC has siad CPR is unconstitutional. The SC has also upheld PB 880 of no permit no rally.
The SC has also advised that Freedom parks be made available w/in 30 days.
Manila has two Freedom Parks, Plaza Miranda & Loton.
Will the demonstrators go to those places to express their grivance?
Since we always talk about the Rule of Law, will we then respect that as advised by the SC?
What are really the measures of the success of rallies? Is it by the degree of misery it can cause to those who just wanna have a life by causing traffic & inconvience?
Will Binay declare Ayala / Paseo de Rojas as a freedom park since there seems not to be a palce where ralliest can catch the attention of the others?
Our problem is not what the law is or the SC says.
Our problem is more about our attitudes.
Our problem is more of wanting to bend the law, look for loop holes & the penchant for testing the laws to their limit.
The Goverment/ Administration will always have the obligation of keeping peace & order in the streets against those who want anarchy. The SC has also said only those following the law can be protected by the Law.
The Goverment wil always use max tolerance.But the bottom line is there will always be PB 880 & rallies to be made in Freedom Parks.
The SC has spoken to all of us.
It’s up to us to listen.

26 April 2006

Yo!!! jester, its two down and one to go, after that, its bye-bye gloria, noli “KAYABANG” de castro and all her clowns, lalo na si “ZUL” gonzales.

Mike defensor claims its not a set back, what do you expect him to say, everything is under according to him, yeah under control by whom????definitely not them.

Its high time for snap election, its the only solution to the political impasse.

jinx

Don’t rejoice, people! It’s only strike two. In baseball, it takes three strikes to declare a player out.

http://www.philippinepage.blogspot.com

[…] The PCIJ blog has a roundup of the decision, reactions, and what led to the policy. Edwin Lacierda says the decision raises some troubling questions, including, what happens to those arrested and charged due to invoking a policy that’s now declared unconstitutional? […]

26 April 2006

Tikboy, what I meant was for all government officials, including elective and appointive (kasama COMELEC) to resign and have a snap election. In 1986, when marcos left the country, the bureaucracy did not stop, what with all the OICs appointed to run the government until a new government was established.

Perhaps, we have to wait for the decision of the SC regarding the PP1017, and after that, the government will be in a very shaky ground, that will force all of the elective and appointive officials to resign to give way for the snap election.

jinx

jester-in-exile said,
April 25, 2006 @ 7:09 pm

“Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor has been quoted to have said the Palace does NOT see the ruling as ‘a total setback.’ ”

malacañang has mastered the art of orwellian doublespeak. perhaps, “a minor inconvenience” would be appropriate, eh mike?

Nice one jester…and if I may add, literally mike defensor mastered doublespeak kasi – MIMIYAK.

But who will represent the unrepresented “right” of “Anak Pasahero” to be “punctual” (as in “observant of the appointed time; neither early nor late” in going to work or to school or to a funeral?)

At the height of the Garci tape scandal, I was one of the few who supported FVR’s proposal for all elected officials from President to barangay captain to resign and be replaced by new set of elected officals in June 2007. In spite of his promise to ban himself from seeking office just to assure doubting Thomases of his honest motives, unfortunately, his call was totally ignored. Now we’re wishing that should have been the thing to adopt. Wala, tapos na yon.

Snap election is wishful thinking. Gloria will never agree to it, she is under no obligation to do it, specially what with her unpopularity rating at 64 percent? Erap would love that and with the help of his dominating masa may even be reelected President.

my one question to you guys is this: after ruling on CPR as unconstitutional… what’s next? – a mumbo-jumbo about sec. 15? a victory party? or a cruel analogy of the supreme court killing us by surprise to rule favorable to people’s initiative? blahah?

the law is upheld. do not let it be trampled again.

we can march to any street as long as we give notice or application to our beloved mayors to assemble. if they so choose to reject the application, petitioners must be properly addressed to give its case.

this is the letters of BP 880. and the supreme court stressed as conclusion to its decision. the letters of the law must be followed.

as of now, even bunyeta is still warning the public against assembling. isn’t that a violation already?

http://lacierda.blogspot.com/

small or partial or temporary, still it is victory- a victory for the filipino people;

let us keep it, a blessings gained from the endless struggles waged by our people;

while we savor this regained ‘freedom’, let us train our sights to the bigger things to come;

to SC, keep surprising us. we the doubting thomases, always welcome PLEASANT surprises. eventually, our victory is also yours for you have upheld a law -allowing citizens to seek redress and air grievances-a basic facility of democracy. you are fully aware as we are, that the way to this dreamed of egalitarian society is long and arduous- do not keep it longer by keeping the people in the dark as to what you are contemplating. and if i may add, dispose of the cases brought to your attention with vigor and appreciation of history.

the people or most of the people i know, have already withdrawn their trust to the executive and legislative branches, and lost respect to most constitutional bodies. your role as the final arbiter (not orbiter, as jester here, jestingly posits), hopefully will lead us to greater heights.

to Gabriela, Bayan, KMP, KMU and other petitioners : salamat po.

when i said in my post above, …another lesson in laws the SC gave to gloria and her legal eagles, i meant that the SC justices only gave the palace instructions (or lessons) on how to go about the following:

a. the congressional inquiries – so they may properly assert their inherent executive privilege as an excuse to non-disclosure of vital information (SC rule on eo464).
http://philippinecommentary.blogspot.com/2006/04/executive-privilege-covers-information.html

b. the rallies – so they may use the full force of bp880 (read: no permit, no rally) without having to name such action as the unconstitutional cpr.

—–

we’ve got to hand it to the wiliness (or foresight, more appropriate?) of the palace thinkers and lawyers…they purposely didn’t produce a written edict on the policy of cpr. as i have stated before:

CPR is nowhere to be found in BP 880…and malacañang is not issuing a “black & white” of the directive, just a press statement…“maingat ano?” will there be a legal implication on a mere press statement? all they will say is that they are just adhering to BP 880 as the implementing rules and regulations for one’s right to peacefully assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances…and CPR is just a term for that implementation???

and…

as far as i’m concerned, BP 880 cripples us because it can be interpreted and quoted by anyone just to suit his fancy http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=445#comment-14424 .

of course, the arroyo government will still implement it the way they interpret it. it will also certainly be enforced to their advantage in the pretext of safety and convenience of the general public.

the SC should have strike down bp880 as unconstitutional in order for the petitioners to really rejoice right now. apparently, the SC stood in the middle now and will again sit down and wait until they are again prompted in the future…as i see it to be a near future.

the supreme court is, of course, the last orbiter…as in orbit: to run in circles around us!
http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=848#comment-24108

powder keg http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/ht/ht005552.htm

I hope Arroyo (and her allies) would finally permit the anti-Arroyo groups to hold protest rallies in mediola, in ayala ave. Makati and Edsa. Hindi naman kasi ito bawal nung panahon nina Erap, Ramos at Cory eh.

umpisa na ng pagkukundisyon sa utak ng mga tao para sa mayo uno. mukhang mag-aala proclamation 1071 na naman.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=36935

jr_lad said,
April 27, 2006 @ 3:53 pm

umpisa na ng pagkukundisyon sa utak ng mga tao para sa mayo uno. mukhang mag-aala proclamation 1071 na naman.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=36935

====================================================
who are you trying to fool senior superintendent asher “the passport guy” dolina?

atienza has this wonderful ability to make two conflicting statements and pass it off as his position on an issue.

would that he’d be consistent for once.

what next, raul gonzales ambushed?

jester, he got bombed already! type “sira ulo” as google search query.
http://youngradicals.blogspot.com/2005/11/google-bombers-attack-arroyo-website.html

i fully agree with baycas. BP 880 should be repealed, although i believe it is for the people’s protection while exercising their rights to hold peacful assemblies and not for the police. it’s just confusing the people. correction: a tool used by the govt to confuse the people.

baycas, here’s a breather for you.

this riddle below is suited for raul gonzales.

he who makes it, doesn’t want it.
he who buys it, doesn’t need it.
he who has it, doesn’t know it.
what is it?

repeal is really an option but is a long shot solution for now.

supreme court had ruled already. i wish petitioners would file another motion for clarification as to the role of the pnp on the previous violent dispersals of peaceful assemblies.

the court must issue a ruling on these to teach those moronic pnp superintendents that they are obviously following a malacanan-polluted interpretation of bp 880.

right baycas, outmoded na nga pala. :). yes, i prefer columbarium too.

As usual the arroyo gang had an entirely different interpretation of the SC ruling.

So where do we go from here?
Our country is in deep terrible mess.
Who is going to put the house in order?
Total cleansing and overhauling of the entire government system is a must!!!
It’s now or never. The current administrators are selfserving lot.
Let us put an end to this day and nightmares !!!!!!!!!!!
INFLUENTIAL INDIVIDUALS WAKE UP!!!!

jester-in-exile said,
April 27, 2006 @ 4:11 pm

jr_lad,

scaring people away through the threat of a plaza miranda replay, the only difference being the communists for marcos’ excuse, islamic militants for gma’s?

what next, raul gonzales ambushed?

jester,

they should make it more convincing and original this time. stage a real ambush and sacrifice gonzales. the’yll surely get the people’s attention. what do you think? hero pa si injustice gonzales.

[…] “The rally in Mendiola is not against the rule of law,” Colmenares said. “It’s a constitutional right.” He added that PNP’s prohibition was in contempt of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the Calibrated Preemptive Response policy. The High court on April 25 declared the CPR policy as unconstitutional. Under the CPR, rallies without permits could be broken up and “unruly” protesters, arrested. The policy was issued by Malacañang in September last year, following a series of anti-government protests. […]

[…] The chief justice referred to three recent decisions issued by the Supreme Court in the last month: invalidating major provisions of Executive Order No. 464; upholding the people’s right to peaceably assemble and seek redress for grievances and shooting down the government’s Calibrated Preemptive Response policy; and upholding the civil liberties of the people under a state of national emergency, as issued through Presidential Proclamation 1017. […]

[…] On the first charge, the groups say Arroyo resorted to “dictatorial powers” when she issued Executive Order 464. Moreover, they say, the President “trampled upon Constitutionally protected rights such as the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to peaceful assembly” by issuing the Calibrated Preemptive Response policy and Presidential Proclamation 1017. […]