Pimentel raps US solons over GMA

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. scored yesterday three visiting American legislators for prejudging a case pending before the Supreme Court (SC) questioning the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration.

The US Embassy in Manila clarified, however, that California Rep. Dana Roh-rabacher of California was "speaking for himself and not for the United States government."

Pimentel said the three Republican congressmen’s statements were "out of bounds," since the SC has yet to rule on the issue.

"How can an American congressman pronounce a verdict in favor of the legitimacy of the Arroyo government which is an issue in our Supreme Court?" Pimentel asked during a weekly forum in Quezon City.

Rohrabacher the other day President Arroyo’s authority to govern is "totally legitimate," adding that the US and other foreign governments have fully recognized that authority.

Congressmen Darrell Issa of California and Roger Wicker of Mississippi echoed Rohrabacher’s observations.

Pimentel stressed that the issue is an internal matter, and labeled the visiting lawamakers’ comments as "premature."

He said the American lawmakers have no business talking about the issue.

"In other words, they cannot dictate to us what is legitimate or illegitimate in our governmental processes," Pimentel said.

While he strongly criticized the three-member delegation of the US House of Representatives, he expressed confidence that the SC would uphold the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration for the good of the country.

Meanwhile, Beijing berated the three US congressmen for tagging China as a threat to regional and global security.

In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said they felt offended by the "irresponsible remarks" made by Rohrabacher against China, and slammed him for meddling in the territorial dispute over the Spratly islands chain at the South China Sea which is being claimed by the Philippines, China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

China warned that external meddling in the issue could only complicate it further to the detriment of regional peace and stability.

Rohrabacher pledged his government’s support to the upgrading of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) defense capability with the grant of surplus materiel and equipment.

He said upgrading the AFP capability is significant "so that the communist Chinese do not come in here to steal all of your offshore oil wells and gas."

He said the territorial dispute was simply part of the problem with China since the communist Chinese were also corrupting other Asian leaders. — Cecille Suerte Felipe, Aurea Calica