Ducky Paredes

“The judiciary should always be above politics. Otherwise, it loses its authority as an effective and credible dispenser of laws and justice.”

by Ducky Paredes

In a statement read by Supreme Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez, Chief Justice Reynato Puno turned down the invitation of the KME (Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya) for the CJ to lead a junta that will take over the government:
“The news reports, nonetheless, if accurate, are humbling and the trust confided in Chief Justice Reynato Puno is appreciated. The Chief Justice, however, would rather stay out of politics and remain in the judiciary, whose independence he has committed to ensure and whose integrity he has committed to strengthen.
“Chief Justice Puno would also like to appeal to everyone to keep the judiciary out of the present political turmoil. The judiciary should always be above politics. Otherwise, it loses its authority as an effective and credible dispenser of laws and justice,”
The Chief Justice is being extra careful. He does not want anyone to even just suspect that he has any political ambitions. In actuality, the KME plan is impossible to implement. They would have the following resigning all together, all at the same time: The President, the Vice President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House. Considering the sort of people who are presently occupying these positions, I would regard the possibility of such ant event highly unlikely. What is to prevent the Senate from electing another Senate President or the house from deciding on a new Speaker to qualify one among them as acting President?
In the event that this is accomplished by force of arms, why would the Chief Justice have an inside track to the presidency when those who have the arms would be holding all the persuasive power they have to get their way?
Besides, I really do not see Gloria Arroyo resigning just because three bishops are calling on her to do so. There were even more people asking for her resignation in the past and she did not heed them. Why should three bishops without any mass following have more persuasive powers than all of the others who wanted her resignation?
Gloria will not resign; she will never resign. Let all those who want to take the presidency away from her be warned that this present President will never give up her Presidency until she is good and ready to do so. In that sense, she is a tougher one than Erap was. Estrada left Malacanang because he could not allow himself to become the reason for fighting and bloodshed among his people.
At any rate, the good thing about the call of the KMA is that the CJ has shown that he is non-partisan. Thank God for that and may we never again have another CJ again who will twist the law out of shape to do political favors for his political cohorts.
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We all know that Universal International Group Development Corporation (UIGDC) was not the best locator in Cubic. Led by Taiwanese National Mrs. Susan Ho, this was the group that was running the golf course. She was installed there by President Ramos but even during the time of Dick Gordon as SBMA head, UIGDC was already a poor lessor.
When Tong Payumo took over as Chairman of the SBMA, the company’s lease payments on the105 hectare golf course built by the US Navy were coming in trickles. Thus, Payumo talked to Mrs. Ho and got her to agree on a payment plan for her arrearages. For some time, Mrs. Ho paid her monthly lease payments and her arrears.
Then, the payments were again delayed or were short of what was expected by the SBMA.
When the present management took over, UIGDC owed SBMA P16 million. In December 2006, a letter from the SBMA was received by Susan Ho that told her that a “cease and desist order” would be issued if immediate payment of UIGDC arrears was not immediately made.
On December 27, 2006, UIGDC was able to get a “staus quo” order from Judge Ramon Caguioa of Olongapo RTC branch 74. On May 24, 2007, Judge Caguioa issued a Writ of Preliminary Injunction against SBMA which prevented it from taking any action against UIGDC.
On June 8, 2007, the SBMA Board of Directors passed a resolution terminating the Lease Development Contract of UIGDC. That same day, the SBMA forcibly took over the golf course and finally got the Hos and all UIGDC employees off the SBMA premises.
This is not to condone the non-payment by UIGDC of what it should have paid SBMA as part of its Lease Development Contract. Clearly, since there was even an agreement signed with Tong Payumo, SBMA Chairman, the amount due SBMA should have been remitted by UIGDC. There was no excuse for their non-payment.
What disturbs about this is the suspicion by many that the SBMA was ready to install a Korean group on its golf course, as soon as the Hos were out of there.
A further point that disturbs about this case is the fact that the government itself ignores judicial notices from the local courts. If even the government can ignore what a judge orders it to do, if a government agency can ignore a Regional Trial Court, what does that tell the foreign investor about our system of justice and the way that we do things in this country?
While we can all agree that the SBMA should have been paid and that UIGDC was not the best lessor one could possibly have had for its golf course, still, would respecting the court’s orders have been such a hard thing to do for the SBMA?
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hvp (10.30.07)