At any other time, bar topnotcher lawyer Manuel “Dondi” Teehankee would have been a welcome addition to the Supreme Court. His name has just been submitted as one of the four applicants to fill a seat in that body.

But not this time, Dondi, not when you and your family owe the sitting president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, BIG TIME – namely, her highly controversial grant of executive clemency in October last year to your older brother, Claudio Junior, who was convicted of double murder.

Not when Arroyo is also a charter member of your family’s Claudio Teehankee Memorial Foundation, which was named after your late esteemed father.

And not when Pres. Arroyo is also your sister’s classmate and Arroyo calls your mom “Tita Pilar” and she remembers you as this cute “baby doll”.

Do you recall that in 2001, your family foundation gave Pres. Arroyo the “rule of law” award. And from Arroyo’s speech, which I am reprinting in full below, you can see how chummy she is with your family.

In one part of that speech, Pres. Arroyo fondly recalled the time when you were trundled off to Assumption College where your older sister studied:

“I STILL REMEMBER WHEN DONDI WAS A BABY, PRICY AND I WERE CLASSMATES AND SHE HAD HER BABY BROTHER DONDI AND WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT TO ASSUMPTION AND WE WERE ALL SAYING, “HI DONDI, HOW CUTE, HI DONDI,” AND THEN ONE OF THE NUNS SAID, “OH HOW NICE HE SPEAKS SPANISH.” BECAUSE DONDI, DONDE.

BUT I WAS VERY PROUD WHEN LATER ON THAT BABY THAT WE WERE ALL PLAYING WITH LIKE A DOLL BECAME NUMBER ONE IN THE BAR, AND NOW I AM DOUBLY PROUD THAT THIS BAR TOPNOTCHER — WHOM I SAW WHEN HE WAS A BABY — IS NOW HELPING ME CARRY OUT THE RULE OF LAW.”

In another part of her speech, Pres. Arroyo said:

“MY FATHER SAID, THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF THE PRESIDENT IS NOT TO DISPENSE FAVORS BUT TO DISPENSE JUSTICE.”

Eighteen years ago, your brother Claudio Jr. killed in cold blood Swedish-Filipino Maureen Hultman, 16, and Roland Chapman, 21, her American friend whose father worked at the US Embassy. He also shot and seriously wounded Jussi Leino, a Finn in his early 20s.

The three friends had gone out to celebrate Maureen’s first pay check and the two young men were escorting her back to her home inside a gated community in Makati City when Claudio appeared from nowhere and demanded to know who they were and ask for their ID.

When Roland asked why, Claudio simply shot him dead. And then he forced Maureen, who had gone hysterical, to sit on the sidewalk beside Jussi. He shot Jussi in the face and Maureen in the forehead. But Jussi survived to testify.

Two other witnesses confirmed Jussi’s testimony.

Claudio has never admitted to the killings and has never said sorry. During the trial, his lawyer even tried to pin the murder on Maureen’s Swedish stepfather, Anders.

Claudio was found “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” and sentenced by the Supreme Court to one life term plus at least 16 years, and ordered to pay at least 12 million pesos in moral and exemplary damages and attorneys’ fees. A life sentence usually means at least 20 years in jail, but this could have been cut by good behavior making Claudio eligible for release by 2011, according to Raul Gonzalez, Arroyo’s justice secretary then and now her presidential legal counsel.

Arroyo, for reasons she has never shared with the Filipino people who had installed her president only three months before she gave this speech, suddenly commuted Claudio’s sentence last year. At the time he was released, Claudio had not yet paid his civil liabilities to Roland’s family and to Jussi. Only the Hultmans had been paid.

Dondi, the fingerprints of your family including your own were all over that presidential action. To defend your brother’s sudden release, you even had to phone Manila radio stations all the way from Geneva where you were stationed as the Philippine permanent representative to the World Trade Organization, a post you also owed to Mrs Arroyo.

Given all these, can you be an impartial member of the Supreme Court?

Besides, an 84-page petition is still pending with the Supreme Court asking the body to nullify the clemency granted to your brother on grounds of “grave abuse of discretion”.

I address you as Dondi because once upon a time we happened to have been thrown together for nearly a month. I got to know you then and found you to be very smart – in the mind and in high-end fashion.

If you get appointed to the Supreme Court at this time, people will always say it’s because Arroyo may want you to return the favor if, you know, she or her family should happen to have to petition the Supreme Court.

Newspapers are playing you up as the son of former Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee” who had died before your brother had committed the murders. What would your father do now, do you think, in your position?

_________________________

PGMA’s Speech during the Presentation Ceremonies of the Rule of Law Award given by the Claudio Teehankee Foundation and the Center for the Rule of Law Ateneo Profession Schools Building, Rockwell, Makati City (April 18, 2001) (Source: page 53 in http://www.humanrights.gov.ph/docs/pgmahrspeeches.pdf)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
MY FELLOW AWARDEE, FILIPINO OF THE YEAR 2000 AND FILIPINO FOR ALL SEASONS, CHIEF JUSTICE HILARIO DAVIDE; MRS. DAVIDE; FR. NEBRES; FR. BERNAS; FORMER VICE PRESIDENT PELAEZ; FORMER SENATE PRESIDENT SALONGA; JUSTICE MUÑOZ-PALMA AND THE OTHER OFFICIALS; MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CLAUDIO TEEHANKEE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION; THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE FOUNDATION — AND I’M VERY PROUD THAT HE IS A MEMBER OF MY GOVERNMENT AS UNDERSECRETARY OF JUSTICE — DONDI TEEHANKEE; MRS. BETH DAY ROMULO; DISTINGUISHED GUESTS; LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

I MUST ALSO GREET OF COURSE THE MEMBERS OF THE TEEHANKEE FAMILY NOT ONLY DONDI, BUT TITA PILAR AND MY CLASSMATE PRICY. THAT’S THE REASON WHY I BECAME A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE TEEHANKEE FOUNDATION BECAUSE OF PRICY, AND NOW WITH CHIEF JUSTICE AND I RECEIVING THIS AWARD, I COULDN’T HELP BUT WHISPER TO FR. BERNAS WHAT A HOMETOWN DECISION. BUT I’M VERY HONORED TO RECEIVE THIS AWARD ESPECIALLY BECAUSE I’M RECEIVING AN AWARD TOGETHER WITH CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE, AND THAT I AM RECEIVING AN AWARD IN MEMORY OF THE LATE CHIEF JUSTICE CLAUDIO TEEHANKEE.

THE LATE CHIEF JUSTICE TEEHANKEE SAID THAT “THE RULE OF LAW IS THE BASIS OF ANY CIVILIZED SOCIETY — AND IT IS HERE — A LAW THAT UPHOLDS HUMAN DIGNITY AND FREEDOM AND PROTECTS HUMAN RIGHTS.” THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF OUR DEMOCRACY WITH A GOVERNMENT WHICH ACKNOWLEDGES THAT SOVEREIGNTY RESIDES IN THE PEOPLE. AND THIS PRINCIPLE OF SOVEREIGNTY RESIDING IN THE PEOPLE WAS THE PRINCIPLE THAT WAS INVOKED WHEN CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE SAID THAT HE WOULD ADMINISTER THE OATH OF OFFICE OF MY POSITION AS PRESIDENT ON THAT DAY JANUARY 20th. INDEED, NOTHING CAN BE MORE DEMORALIZING TO THE MASS OF THE PEOPLE THAN TO SEE PUBLIC OFFICIALS UNINHIBITED BY OLD, CONVENTIONAL PRACTICES BECAUSE THEY ARE LEFT DISCONCERTINGLY WITHOUT A CODE OF ETHICS TO GUIDE AND RESTRAIN THEM.

WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR WITH THE EVENTS THAT TRANSPIRED AT EDSA DOS. AND IF THERE IS ONE LESSON WHICH THE STORY OF PEOPLE POWER 2 HAS CLEARLY SHOWN, IT IS THAT THE PEOPLE HAVE GROWN ALERT IF NOT CRITICAL OF GOVERNMENT. PEOPLE EXPECT RESULTS AND GOOD BEHAVIOR AND CREDIBLE PERFORMANCE FROM GOVERNMENT.

THEY WILL NO LONGER SIMPLY SIT AND WATCH NEGLECT, INCOMPETENCE AND ABUSE FROM PUBLIC OFFICIALS. THEY WANT GOOD GOVERNANCE AND THEY DEMAND GOOD GOVERNANCE.

CHIEF JUSTICE TEEHANKEE SAID, “THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE NECESSARILY CONNOTE A RULE OF LAW AND NOT OF MEN.” HIS ROLE IN EDSA 1 PREFIGURED THE ROLE OF CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE IN EDSA 2. IN THE CASE OF CHIEF JUSTICE TEEHANKEE, HE ADMINISTERED THE OATH OF OFFICE TO CORY AQUINO WHO WON IN THE ELECTIONS BUT WAS LOSING IN THE COUNTING, AND HE WAS CONVINCED TO ADMINISTER THE OATH — AS WE’VE ALREADY HEARD FROM CHIEF JUSTICE PALMA BY HER REQUEST TO HIM. IN THE CASE OF CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE, IT WAS HE WHO SAID THAT HE WOULD ADMINISTER THE OATH OF OFFICE TO ME BECAUSE I AM THE CONSTITUTIONAL SUCCESSOR. AT THE TIME OF MARTIAL LAW THERE WAS NO CONSTITUTIONAL SUCCESSION BUT UNDER OUR PRESENT DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW, THERE IS A CONSTITUTIONAL SUCCESSION.

CHIEF JUSTICE TEEHANKEE, IN RELATING THE EXPERIENCE OF EDSA 1986 SAID, “EDSA 1986 WAS INTENSE, BUT NOT VEHEMENT NOR VIOLENT. EDSA 1986 WAS PASSION EXQUISITE,” HE SAID, “BUT IT WAS RATIONAL, EVEN DIVINE. THE BLIND HATRED OF A MOB OR MINDLESSNESS OF SENSELESS VIOLENCE CANNOT DUPLICATE THAT SPIRIT.”

THAT WAS WHAT CHIEF JUSTICE TEEHANKEE SAID ABOUT EDSA 1986, BUT IF WE SEE EDSA 2000 THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS AGAIN. THESE TWO DRAMATIC EVENTS SHOWED THAT THERE CAN BE A PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POLITICAL POWER WITHOUT RESORTING TO VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. AND I ESPECIALLY APPRECIATE NOT ONLY CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE FOR DECIDING THAT HE MUST ADMINISTER MY OATH OF OFFICE ON THAT DAY BUT ALSO FOR BEING — EVEN IF HE INHIBITED HIMSELF — AN INSPIRATION FOR THE THREE SUPREME COURT RULINGS AFFIRMING THE LEGITIMACY OF MY PRESIDENCY. I THINK CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE AND I THANK THE OTHER JUSTICES FOR THAT RULING. IT WAS PROVIDENTIAL THAT CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE AND JUSTICE PANGANIBAN WOULD BE CONSTRAINED TO INHIBIT THEMSELVES, OTHERWISE THE VOTING WOULD HAVE BEEN 15-0 RATHER THAN 13-0.

BUT BECAUSE THEY HAD TO INHIBIT THEMSELVES, THEN IT WAS POETIC JUSTICE. 13-0 REMINDS US THAT IF THREE TIMES THE SUPREME COURT VOTED 13-0 PERHAPS ON MAY 14 THE REST OF THE PHILIPPINES WILL ALSO VOTE 13-0.

IN THE AFTERMATH OF EDSA 2, VOCIFEROUS CALLS FOR A QUICK ACTION WITH REGARD TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT CREATED SOMEWHAT THE PERCEPTION OF A LYNCH MOB DEMANDING VENGEFUL RETRIBUTION. NOT ONLY WERE THERE VOCIFEROUS IMPATIENT CALLS FOR DONDI AND HIS BOSS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO ACT MORE QUICKLY, THERE WERE ALSO THE SAME CALLS FOR THE SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE MORE QUICKLY. BUT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ACTED IN ITS GOOD TIME, THE SUPREME COURT ACTED THREE TIMES IN ITS GOOD TIME AND WE ARE STILL CONTINUING WITH THE RULE OF LAW. PRUDENCE WOULD RATHER DICTATE THAT THE STEPS WE TAKE MUST BE CERTAIN AND DECISIVE RATHER THAN RASH AND VINDICTIVE. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF HEALING. THE WOUNDS WE ARE NURSING NEED NOT BE GAPED OPEN EVEN FURTHER.

IN THE PROCESS OF HEALING AND RENEWING, WE MUST SHOW TO EVERYBODY, THAT NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW, AND THAT THE RULE OF LAW PUNISHES THOSE WHO VIOLATE THE LAWS OF THE LAND. THE CRIMINAL LIABILITIES OF AN INDIVIDUAL CANNOT BE COMPROMISED BY THE STATE. WE SHALL THEREFORE LET THE JUDICIAL PROCESS TAKE ITS COURSE IN THE CASE OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT.

THE RULE OF LAW IN OUR COUNTRY WILL REMAIN FIRM AND STRONG EVEN IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY AS IT DID IN THE ADVERSITY OF THE PAST THREE OR FOUR MONTHS.

AS LONG AS THE PEOPLE REMAIN AND BELIEVE IN THE CONSTITUTION AND THEIR SOVEREIGN POWER, THE RULE OF LAW AWARD SHALL BE GIVEN AND HANDED OUT TO PEOPLE WHO STAND BY IT AND CONTRIBUTE TO ITS STRENGTHENING. I AM VERY GRATEFUL AND HONORED THAT THE TEEHANKEE FOUNDATION RECOGNIZES THAT I STOOD BY THE RULE OF LAW AND, AS CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE SAID, IT WAS AN ACT OF COURAGE. AN ACT OF COURAGE NOT ONLY PHYSICAL COURAGE BUT MAYBE EVEN MORAL COURAGE BECAUSE I HAD GIVEN MY WORD THAT IN EXCHANGE FOR THE RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT ESTRADA, I WOULD WAIT FIVE DAYS FOR A TRANSITION, BUT WHEN CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE, THROUGH JUSTICE PANGANIBAN’S ANNOUNCEMENT, SAID THAT I MUST NOW TAKE MY OATH, I WAS STILL HESITATING AND I TOLD THE REPORTERS, “WELL, THAT MEANS THAT I CAN TAKE MY OATH OF OFFICE ANYTIME AFTER JANUARY 20th 12 O’CLOCK” — THAT WAS HOW I INITIALLY INTERPRETED IT.

BUT SENATE PRESIDENT SALONGA KEPT GETTING IN TOUCH WITH EVERYONE HE SAID, “NO, WHEN HE SAID YOU TAKE YOUR OATH OF OFFICE AT 12 NOON YOU MUST TAKE YOUR OATH OF OFFICE AT 12 NOON.”

AND WHEN PRESIDENT AQUINO AND CARDINAL SIN AND SENATOR RAUL ROCO WERE ALL TELLING ME THAT AND GIVING ME ALL THE LEGAL AND THE PRACTICAL ARGUMENTS, I PRAYED ABOUT IT. AND AS I PRAYED ABOUT IT I GOT A CALL FROM MALACAÑANG FROM FORMER SECRETARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE DE VILLA AND ALSO FORMER SENATOR ALBERTO ROMULO SAYING THAT THEY WERE QUIBBLING TOO MUCH ABOUT THE WORDING OF THE RESIGNATION LETTER. AND I SAID, “WELL, IF THEY WERE QUIBBLING TOO MUCH ABOUT THE WORDING OF THE RESIGNATION LETTER THEN I SHALL EXERCISE THE DAVIDE OPTION.” AFTER THAT I PUT DOWN THE PHONE AND BECAUSE JUST BEFORE THAT PHONE CALL WAS MADE, PRESIDENT AQUINO WAS THE LAST ONE TELLING ME, “NO YOU SHOULD TAKE YOUR OATH OF OFFICE AT NOON.” SO WHEN I PUT DOWN THE PHONE — THIS WAS IN CARDINAL SIN’S PALACE — I SAID, “TITA CORY, YOUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED AND I’M TAKING MY OATH OF OFFICE AT NOON.”

IT WAS THE LORD WHO MADE ME DECIDE BECAUSE BETWEEN THE ADVISE OF WISE MEN AND A WOMAN LIKE SENATE PRESIDENT SALONGA, PRESIDENT AQUINO AND SENATOR ROCO AND ALSO CARDINAL SIN, AND THE CONFUSION THAT WAS ENSUING IN MALACAÑANG AT THAT TIME, THE TWO EVENTS CONSPIRED TOGETHER AND THE LORD GAVE ME A MESSAGE THROUGH ALL OF THEM THAT I MUST TAKE THE OPTION THAT THE CHIEF JUSTICE WAS OFFERING AND WAS EVEN URGING FOR ME TO TAKE.

AND SO I’M VERY GRATEFUL INDEED AS CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE SAID, THE LORD DECIDED TO INTERVENE DIRECTLY ONCE AGAIN AT THIS MOMENT IN HISTORY. AND AS CHIEF JUSTICE TEEHANKEE SAID EDSA WAS DIVINE — AND HE WAS SPEAKING NOT ONLY ABOUT EDSA 1 BUT HE WAS SPEAKING ALSO ABOUT EDSA 2 BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS REALLY BECAUSE OF DIVING INTERVENTION AND THE LORD WAS THE ONE WHO ORCHESTRATED THE TIMING AND THE LORD WAS THE ONE WHO INSPIRED ALL OF US TO DO WHAT WE HAD TO DO. AND I BELIEVE THAT IT IS STILL THE LORD WHO INSPIRED THE 13 JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT TO MAKE THEIR DECISION THREE TIMES IN A ROW.

AND SO I’M VERY GRATEFUL THAT YOU’RE ALL HERE TONIGHT IN ORDER TO CELEBRATE THE RULE OF LAW. THE RULE OF LAW MUST PREVAIL. IT MUST ALWAYS BE ABOVE THE WHIMS AND CAPRICES OF MEN. IT MUST APPLY TO EVERYBODY EQUALLY, THE RICH AND THE POOR ALIKE, THE HUMBLE AND THE POWERFUL. NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW, INCLUDING THOSE WHO IMAGINE THEMSELVES TO WALK THE CORRIDORS OF POWER.

PRESENTLY, IN FACT, IN THE KILOS BAYAN AFFAIR WHERE WE ALSO HONORED CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE, I SAID, “THERE SHOULD BE NO CORRIDORS OF POWER IN THEIR STEAD, THERE MUST ONLY BE HALLS OF PUBLIC SERVICE. AND THIS IS THE WAY IT MUST BE WITH PEOPLE POWER, THIS IS THE WAY IT MUST UNDER THE RULE OF LAW. I AM REMINDED OF THE WORDS OF MY LATE FATHER, PRESIDENT DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL.

AND I THANK FR. BERNAS FOR STARTING MY CITATION BY SAYING THAT I AM THE DAUGHTER OF A DISTINGUISHED PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT MACAPAGAL, MY INSPIRATION.

MY FATHER SAID, THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF THE PRESIDENT IS NOT TO DISPENSE FAVORS BUT TO DISPENSE JUSTICE. THESE WORDS WERE SPOKEN 40 YEARS AGO, IT WAS THE FIRST SENTENCE OF HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

WHEN I WAS GOING TO TAKE MY OATH I WANTED TO LOOK FOR MY FATHER’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS SO THAT I COULD QUOTE FROM IT AND PARAPHRASE IT. BUT THERE WAS VERY VERY LITTLE TIME BECAUSE IT WAS ONLY AT ABOUT 10 O’CLOCK THAT I DECIDED TO WRITE THE SUPREME COURT AND SAY THAT I AM NOW READY TO TAKE MY OATH. AND THEN I HAD TO GO BACK TO LINDEN SUITES — IT WAS OUR SAFE HOUSE — AND THAT GAVE ME JUST ENOUGH TIME TO WRITE OUT AN INAUGURAL ADDRESS AND CHANGE INTO A SUIT FROM THE JEANS THAT I WAS WEARING THAT MORNING SO THERE WAS NO TIME TO LOOK FOR MY FATHER’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. BUT SINCE THEN I HAVE HAD THE TIME, AND I LOOKED AT HIS ADDRESS AND THAT WAS HIS FIRST SENTENCE: THAT A PRESIDENT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO DISPENSE FAVORS BUT SUPPOSED TO DISPENSE JUSTICE; A PRESIDENT IS SUPPOSED TO CARRY OUT THE RULE OF LAW

WE SAW IN OUR RECENT HISTORY HOW A PRESIDENCY WAS DAMAGED, HOW A PRESIDENCY CAN BE DAMAGED IF JUSTICE IS NOT DISPENSED PROPERLY. THUS, THERE IS ONLY ONE DIRECTION IN THIS ADMINISTRATION REGARDING THE ENFORCEMENT OF LAW AND THE DISPENSATION OF JUSTICE TO THE PEOPLE: THAT IS THE DIRECTION IN FAVOR OF THE HIGHEST PUBLIC GOOD, FOR IT WAS THE HIGHEST PUBLIC GOOD THAT WAS INVOKED WHEN I WAS ALLOWED TO TAKE ME OATH OF OFFICE.

THE VISION IS A SPEEDY AND FAIR ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IN OUR COUNTRY. THIS ENTAILS A DETERMINED AND CONCERTED EFFORT TO PROSECUTE THOSE WHO VIOLATE OUR LAWS AND GIVE JUSTICE TO THOSE WHOSE RIGHTS ARE VIOLATED. THIS WE PLEDGE TO DO AND THIS WE SHALL UNDERTAKE.

I AM PROUD INDEED THAT DONDI IS THERE HELPING ME. I STILL REMEMBER WHEN DONDI WAS A BABY, PRICY AND I WERE CLASSMATES AND SHE HAD HER BABY BROTHER DONDI AND WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT TO ASSUMPTION AND WE WERE ALL SAYING, “HI DONDI, HOW CUTE, HI DONDI,” AND THEN ONE OF THE NUNS SAID, “OH HOW NICE HE SPEAKS SPANISH.” BECAUSE DONDI, DONDE.

BUT I WAS VERY PROUD WHEN LATER ON THAT BABY THAT WE WERE ALL PLAYING WITH LIKE A DOLL BECAME NUMBER ONE IN THE BAR, AND NOW I AM DOUBLY PROUD THAT THIS BAR TOPNOTCHER — WHOM I SAW WHEN HE WAS A BABY — IS NOW HELPING ME CARRY OUT THE RULE OF LAW.

TODAY, YOUR ROLE DONDI AND THE ROLE OF OTHER LAWYERS AND MEMBERS OF BENEFICIARIES OF THIS CENTER AS LEGAL LUMINARIES AND PROFESSIONALS HAVE BECOME MORE IMPORTANT AS THE INTRICACIES OF THE LEGAL PROCESS AFFECT SO MANY DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF EVERY CITIZEN’S LIFE.

YOUR ROLE IN ENSURING THAT OUR PUBLIC AGENCIES SERVE THE PUBLIC’S INTEREST IN AN EFFECTIVE AND EQUITABLE MANNER IS VITAL TO MAINTAINING THE RULE OF LAW IN OUR COUNTRY.

WHILE, I AM GREATLY HONORED TO RECEIVE THIS AWARD TONIGHT, I RECOGNIZE THAT THE REAL HEROES IN EDSA DOS ARE THE FILIPINO PEOPLE.

THUS, THIS AWARD REALLY BELONGS TO ALL OF US — THE FILIPINO PEOPLE. I THEREFORE, ACCEPT THIS AWARD IN THEIR BEHALF , IN YOUR BEHALF AS A REPRESENTATION OF THIS NATION’S STRONG BELIEF AND ADHERENCE TO THE RULE OF LAW — NEVER WAVERING, ALWAYS VIGILANT. THAT IS THE WAY WE DID IT IN EDSA 1, THAT IS THE WAY WE DID IT IN EDSA 2, THAT IS THE WAY WE DID IT WITH CHIEF JUSTICE TEEHANKEE, THAT IS THE WAY WE DID IT WITH CHIEF JUSTICE DAVIDE, THAT IS THE WAY WE WILL DO IT AS LONG AS THESE TWO GREAT MEN ARE THE INSPIRATION OF OUR PEOPLE AND OUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS.

THANK YOU FOR THIS AWARD AND CONGRATULATIONS TO MY FELLOW AWARDEE.

Now that our politics have gone retro – with the son of Joaquin “Chino” Roces vowing to gather more than a million signatures to persuade the son of global democracy icon President Corazon Aquino to run for  president – you might want to read exactly how Cory was drafted.

I am therefore reposting two articles written by veteran journalist-turned-peace advocate Paulynn  “Meiling” Sicam during that amazing period  when ordinary  Filipinos stunned the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and themselves, and planted the seeds of people power. She gave her permission.

Of course circumstances are changed now. But the same dreams remain – a country NOT going to the dogs, a people NOT fleeing in droves to foreign lands.

I am not campaigning for Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. But it makes better political sense for the Liberal Party to put him up as standard bearer for the following reasons:

1. With Senator Mar Roxas running, it is unlikely any of the non-administration-backed candidates  would give way to him. And so they would split the votes the way Fernando Poe Junior and Sen. Panfilo Lacson split the votes in 2004.

2. Sen. Roxas has not been able to excite voters enough to propel him to the top of the heap. His coming marriage with ABS-CBN broadcaster Korina Sanchez could give him some points. But what makes Ms. Sanchez a good, feisty news commentator may not be necessarily what people are looking for in a First Lady.

3. With Sen. Aquino running for president, ex-Pres.Joseph Estrada may give way to him and back him. That’s a lot of votes from the masses.

Don’t you find it weird that it is Sen. Roxas wearing the yellow shirt while Senator Aquino, who is the most logical person to wear this color is not? Instead he is wearing black, the color of mourning.

Having said all these, Sen. Aquino knows people’s expectations are sky high when it comes to him. It also comes at a great price. He would have to ask his clan to place the family-owned  Hacienda Luisita under land reform.

He might also compromise his health, what with a bullet still lodged in his neck as a result of a coup attempt against his mother.

Unlike his mother, though, he will find it easier dealing with the military since he is likely to have the backing and loyalty of the supporters of detained officers Lt. Col. Ariel Querubin and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, thanks to his mother’s support for them.

Below are Meiling’s articles that appeared in 1985.

Drafting a reluctant candidate

Cory, Don Chino and “our last chance to save democracy”

National Midweek November 6, 1985

By Paulynn P. Sicam

The lady has said she isn’t for drafting but Don Chino Roces and company have gone ahead anyway and formed the Draft Cory Aquino for President Movement. Word has it that Cory actually received the old man icily the day before the launching of the movement and asked him not to go through with it. But Don Chino and company, the likes of self-proclaimed Unido and Liberal Party political mechanic Tony Gatmaitan, businessman Victor Sison, recording industry executive Danny Olivares, former Bureau of Fisheries executive Benny Bengzon, angry Air Force wife Lorna Verano Yap, hard-working concerned citizen Imelda Nicolas, and several others, undauntedly proclaimed their intention to gather one million signatures in an attempt to persuade Ninoy Aquino’s widow to run or President.

“Our gathering here this afternoon could be a great moment in our history,” declared Don Chino at the National Press Club last October 15 [1985]. On the other hand, the press seemed to think it could be just another less than great beginning, one of those flights of fancy carried by balloons that burst before they can really take off.

The press sat there cynically questioning every idealistic argument put forth by Don Chino, who that afternoon, looked like Don Quixote de la Mancha fighting windmills. With no guarantee that his candidate for president would accept the draft, he spoke of her as the “healing, inspiring, unifying voice” that our country needs at this time, the sorrowing widow who he hopes “will shed her mother’s garments for the battle tunic of a political warrior.”

“Cory Aquino is our only hope,” said the revered old man of the Parliament of the Streets. Thus, the movement he was launching.

Cory, he elaborated, incarnates the Aquino legacy  “of blood, courage, integrity and martyrdom” bequeathed by Ninoy Aquino on that hot August afternoon in 1983.

Secondly, “only Cory can bind the factional wounds of the opposition, persuade them to close ranks, bestir them to march for the country, and rouse the Filipino people to feats of dignity, honor and courage.” Third, Cory’s “moral stature” which, his group thinks, would make even “men of valor in the armed forces…recoil from desecrating and brutalizing the elections if she were a candidate.” Finally, Cory Aquino can bring to government “the best minds that the nation can offer in terms of  dedication, sincerity and integrity, talent and patriotism.”

This, declared Roces gravely,  “could be our last chance to save democracy in the Philippines. The darkness thickens and we have to move.”

Providing the counterpoint to Don Chino’s emotional approach was Tony Gatmaitan who confessed that he sees in this Draft Cory Aquino for President Movement an “exciting opportunity” to measure the depth of the ordinary citizen’s desire to have her as president. He and his group feel that it is there, an emotional conviction in many people’s hearts that this quiet, unassuming widow is the only one among the oppositionists who has the moral leadership to unite the opposition and defeat Marcos in an election.

Should they succeed in generating one million signatures, and enough enthusiasm from the ordinary unorganized Filipinos to persuade Cory to run, Gatmaitan intends to represent the numbers to the political parties. This should be interesting, he said, his eyes twinkling at the idea: “people power” versus the machine. Indeed, for a political mechanic, it is an exciting proposition.

The idea of a Draft Cory Movement, observed a member of the foreign press, seems to stem from a feeling of frustration at the inability of the opposition to get its act together and present a unified stand versus the Marcos dictatorship.

True, in Don Chino’s opening remarks, he referred to the disarray among traditional political parties, the bickering among the oppositionists, and the cacophony of voices wasted on trivial issues.

The movement is not only for the purpose of drafting Cory Aquino as a candidate for president, explained Secretary General Victor Sison, a soft-spoken heretofore non-political former Atenean. It is also to achieve unity among the opposition groups. And, he maintained, Cory is the person who can do this.

But what if the National Unification Council, of which Cory is a major force, selects another candidate other than Cory? What will CAPM and its one million signatories do?

Why, support that one candidate, said Chino Roces. There is no one person or party we are trying to put down, assured Sison. We are trying to get them to get  their act together. And we believe only Cory can do this.

It was beginning to sound like  a mantra. Only Cory can do it. Cory is our only hope. If only Cory would run. If only she were willing.

Tony Gatmaitan, chairman of the movement’s finance committee said he thinks he can get P30 million in pledges before the end of the year for the idea of Cory as candidate. “If Cory is to be really the people’s candidate, then the people should put their money where their mouth is.,” he said.

So far, after one month of quiet work, the CAPM people have gathered 18,000 signatures. What started as a small force in Quezon City now has chapters in the whole of Metro Manila and Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Sorsogon, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Iloilo, Capiz, Davao Oriental and Quezon Province.

More chapters are expected to be set up as the movement snowballs and the grandest hopes of the organizers about Cory’s acceptability to the Filipino people are confirmed.

Thus, concluded the CAPM, Cory will not possibly be able to turn down the draft. Meanwhile, expect to read and hear that urgent mantra for the next few months as Don Chino and company make good their promise to give all they’ve got to what they perceive is the last chance to save democracy in this land. (Paulynn P. Sicam has just come back from Stanford University where she was a journalism fellow.)

<span style=”font-weight:bold;”>Cory Joins the Race </span>
<span style=”font-weight:bold;”>December 18, 1985 </span>
<span style=”font-weight:bold;”>National Midweek</span>
<span style=”font-weight:bold;”>By Paulynn P. Sicam
</span>
When Cory Aquino announced her candidacy for the presidency last December 3, the audience inside the auditorium of the Mondragon Building in Makati broke into prolonged applause. Not a few wept tears of joy and relief. The waiting was finally over. Now her prodders could finally be called her followers. They could finally buckle down to work and get the show on the road.

The tension had been building up for more than a month. It began when Don Chino Roces, former publisher and everyone’s favorite street parliamentarian , decided to form a citizen’s movement that would urge Cory Aquino to run for president via one million signatures. Roces and his gang of idealists (who at the time seemed destined for failure) called Cory “our last hope for democracy.” investing her with a mantle of moral righteousness.

Cory reacted to the draft with something akin to hostility. She pleaded with the group to desist from what they were planning, and when her plea fell on Don Chino’s deaf ears, she declared that she was not interested in the presidency and would have nothing to do with the Cory Aquino for President Movement (CAPM).

Finally, after some lonely days in the doghouse, Don Chino’s persistence began to pay off. At a luncheon with the Sigma Delta Phi Sorority late in October, Cory gave two conditions that would make her decide to run if Don Chino and company could get one million signatures, and if the election was a snap election.

Meanwhile, she said, she would be praying and reflecting and seeking advice, both human and divine. She asked everyone to pray for her too and help her make the right decision. Every inquiry, every request for an interview was turned down as Cory went into partial seclusion searching her mind and her heart for answers.

The high premium she put on prayer and trust in God made Cory’s quest for an answer, in the minds of many, seem as noble and as difficult as the search for the Holy Grail. It also created the impression that every act of many that met her conditions was really an act of divine intervention, telling Cory what to do next.

First came Marcos’ announcement on American television last November 3  that he was calling a snap election. It did not matter that Marcos was succumbing to American pressure to hold early elections. It did not even matter that Marcos’ rules were dubious. The call for snap elections fulfilled Cory’s second condition. After that, the Cory Aquino for President Movement was unstoppable. Volunteers set up tables on street corners and in marketplaces, went into towns and barrios, seeking signatures who wanted Cory to run. From Aparri to Jolo, Chino Roces said, the signatures came in bunches – from three names to thousands sent via special air freight, or hand carried to the office by concerned citizens. By November 26, Chino Roces was borne on the shoulders of his fellow-volunteers as they counted the one millionth authentic signature of the nationwide campaign.

For people who have been used to the instant groundswells of support that the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan is so adept at producing when the need arises, 41 days seemed an awfully long time to gather one million signatures. So, six volunteers did nothing but go through sign-up sheets, eliminating questionable entries, (such as the names of Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda Marcos, Bongbong Marcos, Imee Marcos Manotoc, Tommy Manotoc and Irene Marcos Araneta), or a series of signatures seemingly done by one hand, and other such anomalies.

On November 27, Ninoy’s birthday, Cory attended a rally in Tarlac where politicians and friends took turns extolling her virtues, and giving every reason why she should be the next president of  the Philippines. Cory shook her head with every praise, every campaign pitch. But when her turn to speak came, she quoted Ninoy: “I will never be able to forgive myself if I have to live with the knowledge that I could have done something and I did not do anything.”

That was good enough for Cory-ites who clung to her every deliberate phrase. They knew her to be a careful speaker, not one to waste her words. She measured the weight and meaning of everything she said.

On December 1, one million two hundred thousand signatures were presented to Cory by a crowd of 15,000 at the Santo Domingo church after evening mass. Th sheets of paper, fastened in fat bulging folders tied with yellow ribbons, were blessed by a priest and received by Cory.

Cory was no longer cryptic at Santo Domingo Church. “I will announce my decision after Mr. Marcos signs Cabinet Bill No. 7,” she promised.”but I assure you, you will hear what you want to hear.”

And then the seemingly insecure non-politician came to the fore once again: “If I were a traditional politician, I would be very happy standing before you tonight. But I am not a traditional politician and so I am very nervous when I think of the difficult days that lie ahead.”

The following morning, Monday, December 2, the Sandiganbayan’s verdict on the Aquino-Galman murder case was handed down. Innocent, said the three-man court of General Fabian Ver and 24 other officers and enlisted men of the Armed Forces, and one civilian. Debunking the findings of the Agrava Board that Aquino and Galman were both victims of a military conspiracy, the Sandiganbayan ruled that all 26 were not guilty of any crime because the military team that killed Galman did so in the performance of their duty. And, of course, Ninoy Aquino was killed by Galman.
Within an hour, Cory was facing the press and reiterating her stand holding Marcos responsible for the murder of her husband. “He is my number one suspect,” she declared, as she has always said since August 21, 1983.

But, speaking with tact and diplomacy, with an eye on being the future commander-in-chief, Cory wooed the military establishment. She said it was misguided elements who had a direct hand in the assassination of her husband; she was not prepared to condemn all 13,000 officers and the enlisted men of the AFP. In a direct message to the “decent elements” in the military she asked for help to get to the truth behind her husband’s savage killing.

On Monday evening, the Batasang Pambansa passed Cabinet Bill No. 7 during its last session for 1985, paving the way for snap elections. Later that night, President Marcos signed the bill into law.

Tuesday morning, true to her word, Cory announced her intention to run for president of the Philippines.

“How Ninoy must be laughing!” was how Butz Aquino spoke of Cory’s dilemma some weeks back when she prayed and sought advice on what to do about the snowballing draft. The position Ninoy had sought so avidly in 1972 was now being given to his wife on a silver platter. His wife, whom he had kept at home because that was where he believed a woman ought to stay. His wife, who had accepted Ninoy’s chauvinist attitude toward women because she did not want to frustrate the kind of life her husband found fulfilling.

“Talk of poetic justice! Marcos wanted Ninoy out of the way, but Ninoy’s spirit lives to haunt him forever,” said an ecstatic Makati matron.

It was a very difficult decision, said Justice Cecilia Munoz-Palma of Cory’s announcement. “I could not have made that decision for her. She made it all by herself.” the justice confided that ever since she advised Ninoy to come home, she swore she would never again be part of other decisions in th future.

If Ninoy could only see Cory Now! The shy housewife who kept herself busy reading light fiction and doing bonsai in the year before martial law was now holding her own in discussions on US bases in the Philippines (out by 1991, if the global situation allows it); on the insurgency (home-grown, with no external help and therefore no external threat to the country); on General Ver’s immediate reinstatement as Chief of Staff (if General Ver could not provide adequate security for one man, how can he secure 54 million Filipinos?) With candor and confidence, Cory revealed that she had been having daily talks with Doy laurel and that she had offered him the vice-presidency.

Was this the inexperienced political neophyte whom people feared would buckle under pressure and intimidation – this woman who was married to the ultimate politician for 28 years, who endured eight years as a political detainee’s wife under th most difficult years of martial rule, who upon the killing of her husband stood up to the most awesome powers in the land and accused them of the murder of her husband, and who, today, against almost insurmountable odds, would pit herself against Marcos’ machinery, machinations and resources, knowing full well the might of her opponent? Was this the woman whom some solicitous souls in the Opposition wanted to protect by keeping her out of the snap election?

“I can be very stubborn,” Cory has said of herself. And though she may seek advice from all and sundry, in the final analysis, she makes her own decisions. Yes, including this tremendous decision to run, preempting Doy Laurel with her early announcement , and leaving him little room to maneuver except around her

Obama orders at Ben's Chili Bowl

For US President Barack Obama, eating in a hamburger joint DOES NOT AT ALL disrespect the presidency.

But President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s son, Congressman Mikey, said it would. In fact, he said, “You want your president to eat in McDonalds or some turo-turo (food stand)? I think there’s more dignity in having your president and her cabinet members and members of the

Lower House to eat in a decent restaurant.”

watch?v=ng7spMHEolE‘ >REP.MIKEY ARROYO – MCDONALD\’S OR TURO-TURO? NO DIGNITY FOR PRES. ARROYO TO EAT IN TURO-TURO

Who is right, do you think? The leader of the mightiest nation on earth? Or the son of an accidental third world president?

Early this year on January 10, 2009, Mr Obama ate at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington DC, the kind of joint that Congressman Mikey sneers at. Mr Obama was accompanied by the DC mayor.

Mr Obama personally ordered and wolfed down a Chili Half Smoke with fries, placed on waxed paper over a cheap red plastic basket (similar to what the local KFC uses).

So undignified, do you think.

In contrast, President Arroyo and her entourage of freeloading lawmakers ate at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse.

Was it dignified for President Arroyo to eat at Bobby Van’s only hours after she had brought out a large begging bowl at the White House Oval Office and pleaded with President Obama to release nearly a billion dollars worth of grants provided under the Millennium Challenge Account in order to fund her ANTI-POVERTY projects?

Initially, the Filipino public only knew that she and her entourage ate at Le Cirque, in New York which the presidential palace quickly explained away as a celebration of the First Couple’s wedding anniversary.

But what was the excuse for eating their way first class in succeeding days at Bouley Restaurant

and Wolfgang Steakhouse?

Oops, silly me. I forgot.

Dignity.

Dignity is defined as “the quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect.”

It isn’t defined, as President Obama showed, by where or what you eat.

The Philippine Stock Exchange released today a seemingly innocuous “Memo for Brokers” numbered 2009-0383, listing the results of its latest internal audit on broker-members, their violations and the penalties imposed – see http://www.pse.com.ph/html/NewsRoom/memos/2009/MEMO_2009-0383.pdf

ATR-Kim Eng, where President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s younger brother Diosdado Junior is a board director and the senior managing director, was found to have committed  five violations from February 1, 2008 to January 31, 2009. This roughly covers the same period when President Arroyo’s stock holdings showed a dramatic surge to P110.4 million,  from P62.9 million in 2007.

Among the violations that ATR-Kim Eng committed was that “some officers/salesmen maintained joint accounts with their relatives.” In the interest of transparency and accountability in public governance, perhaps President Arroyo’s brother could come forward and say whether he performed such a service for his <span style=”font-style:italic;”>ate</span> (older sis).

Four other violations his firm committed were:
Failure to properly time stamp order tickets. Improper flagging of transactions for the account of officers/salesmen and of foreign client transactions. Failure to recognize monthly unrealized gain/loss on its marketable securities in its system-generated trial balance.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism claimed the Arroyo couple was reported to have used two other trading firms.

When the Arroyo couple’s lawyers, Romulo Macalintal and Ruy Rondain,  were recently asked how the First Couple’s stock holdings grew, both told the media to go to the stock exchange and see for themselves.
Now is the right time to do that, with the exchange having released its latest audit – http://raissarobles.com/

Congressman Martin Romualdez, who allegedly picked up the US$20,000 tab for the Le Cirque dinner, may have some explaining to do about his own wealth.

At the age of 24 while still studying at Harvard University, how was he able to “purchase” a US$1.5 million house and lot in Dover, Massachusetts, USA? The acquisition is listed in his 2008 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, as posted by GMAnews.tv in

http://images.gmanews.tvpdf/RomualdezFerdinandMartinGSAL2008.pdf

Could this be part of the unexplained wealth that the Philippine government has been running after all these years? Romualdez said he bought the property in 1987, a year after his family was driven out of power. Romualdez is the son of Kokoy Romualdez, brother of former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

Which raises another curious point: while one branch of the political clan – namely his cousins Bong-Bong and Imee Marcos – were condoling with the family of the late President Corazon Aquino – another branch was wining and dining President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo whom the late Mrs Aquino said should resign. How sincere are the Marcos’ children’s overtures or is the clan just playing a double game?