Palace: Noy to continue listening to bosses

MANILA, Philippines - While President Aquino has said he would step down in 2016, Malacañang yesterday said that Aquino would keep listening to what the sentiments of the people would be regarding his term extension.

“He will continue listening to their sentiments and do his duties in the best way,” Presidential Communications Operations Office  Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in response to a query on how the Communications Group could convince a doubting public, including critics who suspect double-talk, that Aquino does not really have plans to seek re-election and have the 1987 Constitution amended.

“At all opportunities, our President remains sincere and values the trust and confidence of his bosses – the Filipino people,” Coloma said in Filipino over state-run dzRB station.

When asked whether he wanted another shot at the presidency, the Chief Executive retorted that nobody really wants to prolong one’s agony, especially if problems seem to be insurmountable or if they always overlap.

But in a previous interview with broadcast station TV-5, Aquino said he is now “open” to term extension and amending the Constitution. But he focused his attention more on what he called “judicial overreach” and plans to clip the judiciary’s immense powers.

A stalwart of the Nationalist Peoples Coalition – which belongs to the administration coalition – suspects “political vendetta” on Charter change moves aimed at clipping the powers of the Supreme Court.

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian expressed surprise at Aquino’s reason for being open to Charter change, which may have something to do with limiting the judiciary’s supposed “meddling” with the two other branches of government.

It was the second time that Aquino said that the powers of the judiciary should be clipped, especially after the SC struck down his economic stimulus plan, the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

The high court also declared as unconstitutional in December 2013 the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of legislators, resulting in the scrapping of the pork barrel from the national budget.

“The President’s reiteration that he was open to amending the Constitution purportedly to set limits to judicial overreach smells of political vendetta against an SC that has exercised its independence on the issues of DAP and PDAF,” Gatchalian said.

“Clipping the high court’s powers is not a good reason for Cha-cha,” he added.

Gatchalian also said pushing for Cha-cha to clip the powers of the judiciary would not sit well with the Filipino people, who found an ally in the SC, especially regarding the PDAF and the DAP inssues.

He noted that clipping SC powers might be viewed as part of a grand design to get even with the SC, along with the move by the House justice committee to investigate the Judiciary Development Fund and the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s attempt to lifestyle check SC justices using their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.