If Puno runs for president, Lacson wants to be his campaign manager

Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday said he is willing to forgo his personal ambition and even volunteered to be Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s campaign manager should he decide to run for president in 2010.

Lacson earlier urged Puno to seek the highest position of the land after the Chief Justice called for a “moral force” that would lead the much-needed reforms in the country.

But Puno said he did not have any political plans and that the judiciary must always be isolated from politics.

He said he would have to consult his three grandchildren before entering politics and that while he proposed a moral force that would lead to necessary changes in government, he said he preferred to remain as “one of the foot soldiers.”

“There are qualified people outside the government who could serve as moral leaders,” Puno said.

However, Lacson said he could see Puno as a big threat to other presidential aspirants and that there would be a snowballing of support among those who wanted moral recovery if the Chief Justice would run.

“I can be his campaign manager or assistant campaign manager if it comes to that,” Lacson said over radio station dwIZ.

Lacson said Puno’s statements and advocacies genuinely inspire him as they were timely and very apt for the present state of the country.

But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said running for president would not be easy and Puno could be late for the preparations.

He said Puno may be qualified and could be supported by civil society groups, but it is important to have connections with political leaders, especially in the grassroots.

“There are a lot here who are qualified to become president but to be elected president of the country is something else,” Enrile said.

Lacson, however, maintained that he would ask his supporters to shift their assistance to Puno if he would take the challenge.

He said there was nothing wrong in sacrificing one’s personal ambition to be president to rally for someone who could lead the country at this time of moral degradation.

He said it was the first time for him to do such thing because he was impressed by what Puno had been doing in the judiciary and his independence from Malacañang based on his decisions.

In line with this, Bishop Nilo Tayag of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente has confirmed that they are planning to gather two million signatures to push for the presidential candidacy of Puno.

Tayag said the campaign named Chief Justice Puno for President Movement (CJPPM) was their response to the call for “moral force” and to put an end to “trapos” or traditional politicians.

Domino effect

Support for the Chief Justice has continued to snowball as the justices of the Court of Appeals (CA), the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), and court and bar organizations yesterday joined the mounting call to spare him and the entire judiciary from politics.

Puno also continues to receive letters of support from private individuals.

In separate resolutions, the CA, the CA Visayas, and the CA Mindanao expressed their “full and unqualified support and trust” for Puno who was reported to be the subject of an impeachment move.

“His integrity, competence, and independence in the performance of the constitutional mandate to adjudicate legal disputes and constitutional issues are beyond reproach,” reads the resolution.

All 69 appellate court justices of the CA’s 23 divisions led by CA Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez Jr. signed the resolution.

The CA justices stressed that the chief magistrate “has been transparent in all his dealings and has not betrayed the confidentiality of the judicial process.”

The appellate court justices belittled the alleged threats to oust Puno saying the impeachment is “mindless and unwarranted and serves only to unduly tarnish the image of the Philippine judiciary.”

“While we acknowledge that every citizen has the right to question the official acts of a public servant in the Judiciary, we insist that the exercise of the right must be undertaken with utmost circumspection and only for the noble purpose of bringing the wrongdoing and the culprit to the bars of justices,” said the justices.

The NCCP, through its General Secretary Rev. Fr. Rex Reyes Jr. said it requested an audience with Puno together with the Ecumenical Voice, the delegation that brought an Ecumenical Human Rights Report to the US Congress, the Canadian Parliament, and the United Nations Human Rights Council to personally convey their support.

The judges of the Regional Trial Courts (RTC) and Metropolitan Trial Courts of Quezon City likewise echoed these sentiments as they condemned the alleged ouster.

Judges, lawyers, and employees in the Hall of Justice of Lapu-Lapu City shared the same view.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Bohol Chapter also issued a statement that it extends full support.

Earlier, the Chief Justice has received support not only from members of the judiciary and religious groups but also from the leftist organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will conduct marathon hearings on the controversial Limkaichong case and will make a decision in two to three weeks, according to High Court lawyer Midas Marquez. – With Perseus Echeminada