The House Minority must be able to choose more relevant and seasonable issues in confronting the Aquino administration.
The public auction sale of the government’s property in BaguioCity was a transaction that happened as early as 1992.
It is a relic which should be consigned to the archives rather than exhumed as a possible ground for impeachment of President Aquino since it is bereft of legal and factual anchorage.
The execution of the deed of absolute sale by President Aquino on September 16, 2011 in favor of the winning bidder and purchaser, the SM Group, which fully paid the purchase price in 1997, was only confirmatory of the legal transaction and mandated by law.
Responsibility and candor demand that non-issues should not be floated as serious concerns.
Without prejudice to continuing the plenary debates and consideration of the RH bill, its principal authors led by Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, Independent-Albay, want to have “enlightening sessions” with religious representatives of the Catholic hierarchy.
Since the RH bill is pending in Congress, the call of Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle for the resumption of dialogues should not be limited to Malacañang officials but must include Congressional leaders, particularly the major proponents of the measure.
The dialogues can be conducted separately or jointly with Palace representatives.
The agenda for the meetings should include the following core provisions of the RH bill:
(1) The central concept is freedom of informed choice on the use of family planning methods from the natural to the modern which are legal, medically safe and truly effective;
(2) There shall be neither compulsion nor bias in favor of a particular family planning method;
(3) A full recognition that the Philippines has a population problem which is aggravated by limited resources and a precarious carrying capacity;
(4) There is an indubitable and empirical linkage between population and sustainable human development, including poverty;
(5) No human development agenda is achievable without addressing the issue on population;
(6) The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly on improvement of maternal health, reduction of infant mortality, attainment of universal primary education and eradication of extreme poverty and hunger can be made more attainable with the passage of the RH bill;
(7) The RH bill envisions a comprehensive and nationwide policy on responsible parenthood, family planning and population development which are not particularly addressed by existing laws and changing policies; and
(8) There is need to institutionalize and codify related statutes and policies on reproductive health, women’s rights, child nutrition and protection, prevention of violence against women and allied concerns, and earmark adequate funding.
Insisting that session days spanning several calendar days can be reckoned as only one “session day” in the absence of an intervening adjournment, the majority coalition members in the House Committee on Justice rejected the motion of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, Independent – Albay, that the committee has lost jurisdiction over the impeachment complaint against Justice Mariano del Castillo due to its failure to dispose of the complaint before the 60-day reglementary period expired last year.
Lagman said that the majority's contention is “an aberration in chronology” even as it “ inordinately taxes the imagination and credulity for a session to go on in perpetuity day after day, and yet be considered as a single “session day”.
By foisting a self-serving and erroneous computation, the House violates with impunity the Constitution and its own rule that the Committee on Justice has only 60 session days within which to resolve an impeachment complaint from the time it is referred to the committee.
“A session day corresponds to a calendar day when the House is assembled and transacts business on a daily basis as documented in the congressional journal,” Lagman added.
The impeachment complaint against del Castillo was referred to the committee as early as February 2, 2011 and according to Lagman as of February 6, 2012, 84 session days have elapsed or 24 days over the limited, albeit lengthy, 60 session days.
Lagman urged that since the committee stripped itself of jurisdiction by its own inaction, the impeachment complaint must perforce be dismissed automatically.
The chronology of time tends to blur memories; the passage of time tends to diminish recollections; the marching on of time makes the occurrence of past events appear irremediable.
This must not be so. Time must not be a balm to injustice. Time must not silence protest. Time must not stop or temporize a good fight, a laudable crusade. Time must not shield impunity.
11 years after the assassination of Ka Popoy, his assassins and their mastermind have not been apprehended.
11 years after the death of Ka Popoy, no major labor legislation has been enacted.
11 years after the murder of Ka Popoy, contractualization continues to bedevil the workforce.
11 years after the demise of Ka Popoy, joblessness has worsened and the number of hungry Filipinos has escalated.
11 years after the death of Ka Popoy, his progressive labor agenda remains a challenging draft.
11 years after the death of Ka Popoy, his vision for a just society for the poor and underprivileged remains illusory.
This is the reason why time and time again we must shout: “Ka Popoy, tuloy ang laban!”
The reason why we celebrate the death anniversary of Ka Popoy is to continue reminding and chastising ourselves that we have failed in numerous instances to effectively pursue his unfinished advocacy and interrupted militancy for the marginalized masses, particularly the disadvantaged workers.
Another reason is to realize that the fragmentation of his allies and supporters into warring groups is counter-productive and self-defeating. There is need to unite to regain strength and efficacy.
And a more overriding reason is to resolve to continue resolutely and steadfastly the progressive labor agenda of Ka Popoy for the Filipino workingmen.
The Aquino administration’s inordinate focus on the impeachment and replacement of Chief Justice Renato Corona takes its toll on the economy and legislative work.
The collateral damage of the impeachment proceedings on governance and legislation is becoming inevitable.
While the national growth has plunged to 3.7% last year, which is much slower than the 7.6% gross domestic product (GDP) expansion in 2010, and the number of hungry Filipinos has escalated to 4.5-M from 4.1-M last September, the Aquino administration has marshaled its time and resources to an agenda of ousting the Chief Justice.
The implementation of national polices to address poverty and hunger may be stalled and the bailout of the fledging economy may fall at the roadside as all guns of the Aquino administration are aimed at the Chief Justice’s head.
Meanwhile, major legislations stagnate as congressional prosecutors and senator-judges have assumed new roles outside of their traditionally mandated legislative functions.
Since the start of the impeachment trial, attendance in the House of Representatives has dwindled to less than the requisite quorum and committee hearings are sparsely attended.
The marginalized and disadvantaged citizens are not concerned with alleged high profile transgressions of the elite officialdom except as a television extravaganza to forget their own woes.
They care most about lack of jobs, the very real possibility of missing their next meal, absence of adequate and immediate medical care and the petty graft of kotong cops, market collectors and small-time bureaucrats who bedevil their daily lives.
The Aquino administration must meaningfully and immediately address these small concerns of small Filipinos rather than divert its time, passion and resources to an agenda of prosecution which will not uplift and empower the greater number.
Let the impeachment trial proceed and end as warranted without excessive fanfare and biased publicity.
