Roco turns 62,airs b’day wish

He turned 62 yesterday and said his birthday wish is for Filipinos to stand against the second impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

Former education secretary and presidential aspirant Raul Roco made this wish at Miriam College in Quezon City, where 8,000 relatives, friends and supporters gathered for his birthday celebration.

Roco did not spout campaign rhetoric at the celebrations. Instead, he called on Filipinos to rise up and defend the Supreme Court, which he said is now under "political attack."

"My birthday wish is for the Filipino people to show their courage in this unjustified attack on the judiciary," he said. "We must defeat such arrogance of power."

Davide was impeached by 88 members of the House of Representatives who signed the second impeachment complaint against him Thursday.

Since the signatures on the complaint exceeded one-third of the members of the House as required by its rules, the complaint will automatically be transmitted to the Senate for trial without going through committee debates on the House floor.

The 1987 Constitution, which Davide helped craft, bans the initiation of more than one impeachment complaint against the same official within one year — a constitutional provision that the signatories to the complaint did not heed.

Roco has made clear his strong opposition Davide’s impeachment, saying this may create a major constitutional crisis.

All three branches of government — the executive, legislature and judiciary — are co-equal to and independent of each other.

If the legitimacy of any of these co-equal branches of government is undermined through a conflict between them, the result is a constitutional crisis. Such conflict would prevent at least one of the branches of government from effectively dispatching its vital functions.

Lawmakers earlier said a constitutional crisis will damage the economy by spooking investors, who may react to the crisis by waiting and hedging their capital investments or pulling the plug on their businesses in the Philippines and going elsewhere with their capital.

Batanes Rep. Florencio Abad, who was at Roco’s birthday party, said the Liberal Party (LP) is holding a caucus today to discuss the party stand on the matter.

"It’s such an urgent matter," Abad said. "The longer it is pending, the longer the uncertainty will hang over the country. I agree it should be taken care of with dispatch."

Meanwhile, Roco said former Pangasinan governor Oscar Orbos, former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. and broadcaster Jay Sonza will be on the 2004 senatorial slate of his party, Aksyon Demokratiko.

Roco added that his party, former defense secretary Renato De Villa’s Reporma and former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña’s Probinsiya Muna Development Initiative are still discussing who they will select as Roco’s running mate for next year’s national elections.

Aksyon Demokratiko, Reporma and Promdi bolted the People Power Coalition (PPC) led by the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party earlier this month and coalesced into a "Third Force" for the 2004 polls.

Also present at Roco’s birthday party were Senators Manuel Villar and Ralph Recto and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., all of Lakas-CMD. They said they were there to greet Roco on his birthday.

De Villa said the Third Force coalition is wooing the LP to join its fledgling political grouping.

However, Abad said the LP has not yet decided on the invitation because it is prioritizing its caucus over the Davide impeachment.

He added that the LP is expecting "some key personalities in the political arena" to join them over the next few weeks. In light of this, Abad said, they will wait to get the opinions of these people before deciding on the Third Force invitation.

Roco also paid tribute to several Filipinos, whom he said could be role models for their honesty.

Marilyn Bondad, a public school teacher from Roco’s home province of Bicol, returned P6 million mistakenly deposited in her payroll account as salary by the Department of Education (DepEd) last year.

Roco, who was DepEd secretary at the time Bondad returned the mistaken deposit, said the teacher asked for no monetary reward. All she sought was to be transferred to a lowland school from the school in an uphill area where she was then working.

Roco also acknowledged taxi driver Emil Advincula, who returned P500,000 left in his cab to its rightful owner.

Security guard Ma. Fe Sotelo also earned applause from the crowd after Roco announced she had returned P500,000, which she found while manning her post at the Festival Mall in Alabang.

"We are not lacking in good people," Roco said. "There are many honest Filipinos. I hope that more people will emulate them."