Poe cases ready for SC resolution

OUR last Postscript (Feb. 11) titled “SC oral arguments expose feet of clay” elicited wide agreement from readers who have been following the Supreme Court hearing of petitions for the constitutional disqualification of Sen. Grace Poe Llamanzares from running for president.

If the feedback is any indication, there is a growing consensus that the SC better cut short the oral arguments for its own good and that of the country preparing for the May elections.

The Poe cases are ready anyway for resolution even without going through further orals. Besides, the spectacle merely exposes the “bias, ordinariness and the difficulty with the English language” of some of the justices.

From our email inbox, we picked a representative email, one from reader Chito Dimaculangan who wrote (edited to fit):

“The delay in the proceedings is caused by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. She has feet of clay dipped in premium quality lead. I cannot understand her penchant for suspending the hearing between 5:30 and 6:30 o’clock in the evening even in the absence of any motion for continuance from either of the contending parties.

“Both parties want the case to be submitted for decision as soon as possible, but Chief Justice Sereno wants to drag the case for reasons known only to her. Compare her actions with that of the SC under Chief Justice Hilario Davide in connection with the FPJ disqualification case in 2004.

“CJ Davide set the oral arguments of the FPJ case on Feb. 19, 2004, at 1 pm and they heard all parties and the four amicus curiae continuously until 2 o’clock in the morning of Feb. 20, 2004. On March 3, 2004, the Supreme Court issued its decision. Why can’t the Sereno Court follow the example of the Davide Court? Are they waiting for someone or something?

“I also cannot understand why the SC Justices under the Sereno Court are a fast tiring bunch when they are all comfortably seated on well-cushioned chairs during hearings and all they have to do is write down notes and ask questions prepared well in advance.

“Compare that to Commissioner Arthur D. Lim’s situation. He has to be on his feet when he argues and give impromptu answers even to the most inane questions. Commissioner Lim is older than the oldest of the current SC justices and yet he exhibited mental and physical fortitude in the two days that he argued, even respectfully declining the offer of justices for him to argue while seated.

“It is insane that an old man like Commissioner Lim is still mentally and physically strong even after more than four hours of standing and talking while the much younger justices have gone tired and weak while seated.

“I am very disappointed at the gingerly pace by which CJ Sereno is handling the oral arguments! Is this the example she wants the lower court judges to follow?”

• Can Miriam fever spread off campus?

TO THE SURVEYS on preferences for presidential candidates, we throw in a poll held days ago at the Holy Angel University in Angeles City where 5,516 college students participated.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago topped the survey with 2,210 or 40 percent of the votes. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was second with 1,865 votes (34 percent). Senator Poe got 12 percent, Vice President Jojo Binay 7 percent, and Mar Roxas 4 percent.

Among the vice presidential candidates, Sen. Bongbong Marcos was No. 1 with 1,739 votes (32 percent).After him were Sen. Chiz Escudero with 1,544 votes (28 percent); Sen. Alan Cayetano, 1,138 (21 percent); and Rep. Leni Robredo, 433 (7.8 percent). Senators Antonio Trillanes and Gregorio Honasan tied for the fourth place with 2 percent each.

From a list of 19 senatorial candidates, the students voted for Tito Sotto, 3,823; Leila de Lima, 2,947; Franklin Drilon, 2,582; Ralph Recto, 1,966; Francis Pangilinan, 1,661; Risa Hontiveros, 1,503; Manny Pacquiao, 1,286; and Dick Gordon, 1,141 (eighth place).

Santiago has been topping campus surveys, but lagging elsewhere. What makes her a favorite of college students? Will these students actually vote on May 9? Will she be able to replicate this campus popularity in other areas and sectors?

• Establishment to ensure Roxas win?

IN MY OWN unscientific random sampling of people on various social levels in Metro Manila and elsewhere, Duterte is the first mention in 7 out of 10 responses. Poe and Binay come in second.

An interesting detail is that those who mention Duterte usually say it with conviction, akin to raising a clenched fist, as if to stress that they would not change their mind for anything. We read this to mean that many Filipinos want a firm hand to whip them back into line.

But even with Mar Roxas trailing in the surveys and in my opinion sampling, I have this feeling that the administration-Liberal Party bet will be handed the presidency come May.

My reasoning is simple, perhaps too simplistic and therefore faulty. But I feel, maybe fear, that the Establishment elements that have been wallowing in the profits and comfort of the status quo will not allow Roxas – and his promise of “more of the same” (of whatever) – to lose.

In our democratic one man-one vote setup, the Establishment is numerically inferior compared to the masses. But the Establishment holds the levers of power, including the money plus the magic of the now-automated voting process.

As demonstrated in the 2010 and 2013 elections, the masses cannot raise even a whimper of protest when fraud is evident. Voter participation has been limited to the shading of the ovals on the ballot and feeding the piece of paper into the inscrutable Hocus-PCOS machine.

After casting his ballot, the voter is completely cut away from the supposedly sovereign process of popular elections. After that point of no return, almost like an act of surrender, the voter would not know for certain what happened and did not happen.

*      *      *

ADVISORY: To access archived Postscripts, go to www.manilamail.com (if necessary, copy/paste url on address bar). Follow us via Twitter.com/@FDPascual. Email feedback to [email protected]