Joker to argue Senate case vs. PI at SC - Malaya 09.20.2006
SEN. Joker Arroyo will argue the Senate’s case against the people’s initiative before the Supreme Court during oral arguments set for Sept. 26.
Arroyo was designated Senate representative to the high court hearing after the Upper House decided to participate as intervenor in the petition for certiorari filed by the Sigaw ng Bayan group and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP).
Sigaw and ULAP have petitioned the high court to reverse the ruling of the Commission on Elections junking its motion for a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution and to schedule a plebiscite on their proposed amendments within 90 days.
The Comelec junked the two groups’ petition based on the SC’s own ruling in 1997 that there is no enabling law for a people’s initiative. Petitioners Raul Lambino of Sigaw and Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado of ULAP claimed that the SC has the power to overturn existing jurisprudence on people’s initiative.
Arroyo, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, will tangle against solicitor general Eduardo Nachura. He will be assisted by Senate legal counsel David Yap and Dean Pacifico Agabin.
"The Senate, as an institution, has actual and material interest in the subject matter of the petition and would be irreparably prejudiced if the petition is granted," the senators said in a resolution filed by Senate majority floorleader Francis Pangilinan.
Among the amendments being pushed by Sigaw and ULAP is the shift from the presidential to the parliamentary form of government, effectively abolishing the Senate.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday asked in a privilege speech where ULAP has been getting the money to finance its full-page ads in newspapers, and radio and television plugs endorsing the people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.
"I’d like to find out where does the money (paid for the advertisements) come from, especially the money spent by ULAP," Pimentel said.
He noted that "billions of pesos in government funds are going to the coffers of local government units as their internal revenue shares." He said the Senate should determine if the funds being used by ULAP for its pro-Charter change activities have been taken from the internal revenue allotment (IRA) of local government units.
He said the minimum P100,000 cost of advertisements in major newspapers is "a great amount of money." A one-minute radio advertisement, on the other hand, costs at least P45,000 per airing.
Sigaw and ULAP radio ads run for a minimum of 90 seconds or 1.5 minutes. They are aired at least five times a day for a total of P337,500 a day.
Pimentel said his office monitored ULAP paying for at least six full-page advertisements on Aug. 10 in the Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard Today and in the tabloids People’s Tonight and Abante. – Dennis Gadil and JP Lopez
Arroyo was designated Senate representative to the high court hearing after the Upper House decided to participate as intervenor in the petition for certiorari filed by the Sigaw ng Bayan group and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP).
Sigaw and ULAP have petitioned the high court to reverse the ruling of the Commission on Elections junking its motion for a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution and to schedule a plebiscite on their proposed amendments within 90 days.
The Comelec junked the two groups’ petition based on the SC’s own ruling in 1997 that there is no enabling law for a people’s initiative. Petitioners Raul Lambino of Sigaw and Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado of ULAP claimed that the SC has the power to overturn existing jurisprudence on people’s initiative.
Arroyo, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, will tangle against solicitor general Eduardo Nachura. He will be assisted by Senate legal counsel David Yap and Dean Pacifico Agabin.
"The Senate, as an institution, has actual and material interest in the subject matter of the petition and would be irreparably prejudiced if the petition is granted," the senators said in a resolution filed by Senate majority floorleader Francis Pangilinan.
Among the amendments being pushed by Sigaw and ULAP is the shift from the presidential to the parliamentary form of government, effectively abolishing the Senate.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday asked in a privilege speech where ULAP has been getting the money to finance its full-page ads in newspapers, and radio and television plugs endorsing the people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.
"I’d like to find out where does the money (paid for the advertisements) come from, especially the money spent by ULAP," Pimentel said.
He noted that "billions of pesos in government funds are going to the coffers of local government units as their internal revenue shares." He said the Senate should determine if the funds being used by ULAP for its pro-Charter change activities have been taken from the internal revenue allotment (IRA) of local government units.
He said the minimum P100,000 cost of advertisements in major newspapers is "a great amount of money." A one-minute radio advertisement, on the other hand, costs at least P45,000 per airing.
Sigaw and ULAP radio ads run for a minimum of 90 seconds or 1.5 minutes. They are aired at least five times a day for a total of P337,500 a day.
Pimentel said his office monitored ULAP paying for at least six full-page advertisements on Aug. 10 in the Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard Today and in the tabloids People’s Tonight and Abante. – Dennis Gadil and JP Lopez
posted by brodkaster43 at Miyerkules, Setyembre 20, 2006
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