Serge warns PNoy against possible constitutional crisis

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Sergio Osmeña III on Monday night warned  of a possible constitutional crisis if President Aquino would continue to defy the Supreme Court' ruling on the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds.

“The SC will have to consider their motion for reconsideration and I expect the SC will not reverse itself, not with a 13 or 14-0 vote. It has never been done. So what will happen is that if the President will not obey, and he says, ‘no, you are wrong’. That’s going to be a Constitutional crisis,” Osmeña explained.

With impeachment moves at the horizon, Osmeña expressed hope that the present administration will not allow a constitutional crisis to happen because it will affect the country’s economic standing. 

Osmeña did not rule out the possibility that some groups -- from the military or the militants -- might take extrajudicial moves to destabilize the government.

“I hope they will not allow it to get to that point, then maybe there will be extrajudicial moves already on the part of other groups who don’t like to see these sort of things,” he said.  “Maapektuhan na naman ang political credibility natin abroad.. yung credit  rating natin.”

Hard-headed

Osmeña also criticized President Aquino for being stubborn on the DAP issue.

“Well, true to form the President was hard-headed, tigas ulo. It seems he does not know how to accept he made a mistake, an innocent mistake, a mistake without a criminal intent but a mistake anyway because the SC ruled 13-0,” Osmeña said in an interview.

Osmeña, an ally of the President, was unable to hide his disappointment against the Aquino although he publicly encouraged him to address the issue and explain it to the people.

“So it's disappointing to get that kind of reaction from him,” Osmeña said.

Although he is not a lawyer, the veteran senator expressed doubt whether the High Tribunal will reverse itself.

“How can he expect that the SC will reverse that decision. I think he will have a hard time asking for that. He is asking for the SC justices [to say] they’re wrong,” Osmeña added.
Diminished credibility

Because of the DAP issue, Osmeña said the President’s credibility has diminished in the eyes of the public.

“Diminished ang confidence nila sa gobyerno sapagkat alam naman nila yung DAP ay ginawa by bending the law, let us not say by breaking the law, but by bending the law,” the senator added.

Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Chiz Escudero expressed belief that the President meant well when he approved the DAP.

“It was very clear that they have legal basis and noble objectives when they implemented the DAP. He was also able to enumerate some of the gains brought about by DAP,” Trillanes said.

“We'll now await PNoy's promise to provide details as to where the DAP funds ended up so that the public would know if the funds were stolen or not,” Trillanes added.

For Escudero, he urged the President to respect the final decision of the SC “even if he disagrees with it.”

“PNoy means well and I think he just wanted to explain and share his frustration with the delays in project implementation that the SC ruling on DAP may bring about,” Escudero said.

“However, the law is the law and, at the end of the day, I firmly believe that PNoy will abide by the SC decision-- once it becomes final -- even if he disagrees with it,” Escudero added.