MANILA, Philippines - Senator  Joker Arroyo yesterday scored President Aquino’s legal advisers and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for assailing the credibility of the Supreme Court (SC).

Arroyo also dismissed as “one man’s opinion” the statement of Sen. Franklin Drilon, who is an ally of the President, that Chief Justice Renato Corona should inhibit himself from the cases involving Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Corona is biased for the former leader since he served as her spokesman and chief of staff, according to Drilon.

“That is one man’s opinion. (Former Prsident) Cory (Aquino) appointed (Claudio Sr.) Teehankee who fought Marcos,” Arroyo said, adding that the late President Aquino even appointed 15 new justices during her term.

“The senator said the President’s allies are going against the 1986 Constitution, which was a landmark legislation during the term of his mother.”

He added that Aquino’s legal advisers and De Lima are fueling further the apparent mistrust between the judiciary and executive branches of government.

“The way the government is being run is as if we do not have the Constitution. We don’t have the fundamental law. That is the Constitution of Cory Aquino. Binabastos nila (They are disrespecting it.) That was enacted in 1986. It was not a perfect Constitution but it is a good Constitution,” Arroyo said over radio station dzBB.

The Constitution provides that the SC is the final arbiter, court of last resort of the land and should be regarded with high respect, according to the senator.

Arroyo drew the parallelism between Cory’s term and her son’s administration, and the events during Martial law.

“During martial law, hirap na hirap kami (it was so hard for us), the great man, Wigberto Tanada, Jose ‘Pepe’ Diokno, Francisco ‘Soc’ Rodrigo, even then we said we cannot expect justice from the SC, but we were never personal. That was a Marcos court. But we were very careful never to hit it, to attack it. If we keep on attacking it, (the SC will say) you come for relief here after you have attacked us,” Arroyo said.

“They have great values. Remember, every time you talk about survival of the state, that is martial law and the DOJ (Department of Justice) is advocating that. Everyone must yield,” Arroyo added.

“Pag kumontra ka sa gobyerno, tuta ka ni GMA. Ganoon na ba ang situation natin ngayon? (When you go against the government, you are GMA’s puppet. Is this the kind of government we have right now). They are free to attack anyone. I don’t know what will happen. If the Cory Constitution is the problem, lets amend it. To say that it is there, but not follow, ano ba yun (what’s that)?” the former human rights lawyer said.

‘SC not immune from criticism’

Drilon, however, argued that the High Tribunal is not immune from criticism, saying he was not particular about Corona being an Arroyo appointee, but his apparent siding with the former President in more than 10 cases which the SC handled in the past.

“SC is not exempted from criticisms. Their decisions can be subjected to criticism. When it comes to respect, you cannot force it. You need to show that you should be respected. The decisions of the SC have not earned the trust of the people,” he added.

Arroyo said critics of the Chief Justice should merely impeach him if they can.

“It is not because you like the SC, but that is how the Constitution operates. There is a remedy, impeach the CJ. But that will not prosper, because at the Senate, they cannot get the 16 votes. True, they don’t want to impeach him, but they want to attack him,” he said.– With Paolo Romero