Sen. Madrigal's Ignorance of the Phil. Constitution

[Rance]

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I got this note from a fellow.. Read on.

BUS
by: Labelo Cruz
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A few days ago, Sen. Madrigal received a firetruck-water-shower in their
so-called religious procession. Along with her were Fr. Robert Reyes,
former VP Teofisto Guingona and Oscar Orbos.

Minus all the blah-blahs about the defense that the shower was unprovoked
and that the activity was religious in nature (with so many placards
hitting on PGMA), Sen. Madrigal in her interviews made direct reference to
PGMA's forthcoming declaration of martial law. What is appalling is that
she sounded so terrified and so critical of the idea of martial law. In
fact she sounded lame and powerless.

This is not to defend the actions of the Administration. I am simply
reacting to Sen. Madrigal's fearful reference to martial law.

It is this senator's fear of martial law that irritated me. This fear for
me projects powerlessness. And the reason of this fear might be ignorance
of the Philippine Constitution. It is surprising for a lawmaker to think
that it will be that easy for a president to declare martial law under the
current constitution.

Let me explain why.

The Philippine Constitution states that the president is the commander in
chief of the armed forces. Under that capacity, she may use such armed
forces "to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion."
(Article VII, Section 1. In this capacity also, the president may place
the Philippines or any of its part under martial law in case of actual
invasion or rebellion. This may sound easy if we are really inclined to
believe that the president will declare martial law. Assuming, that indeed
the president declares martial law, she will have to face these
consequences:

1.) Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law, the
president shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress.
The Congress, voting jointly, by a vote of at least a majority of all its
members in regular or special session, may revoke such proclamation, which
revocation shall not be set aside by the president.

2.) The Congress, if not in session, shall, within twenty-four hours
following such declaration, convene in accordance with its rules without
need of a call.

3.) The Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any
citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of
martial law or the extension thereof, and must give its decision thereon
within thirty days from its filing.

4.) A state of martial law does not suspend the operation of the
constitution, nor supplant the functioning of the civil courts or
legislative assemblies, nor authorize the conferment of jurisdiction on
military courts and agencies over where civil courts are able to function,
nor automatically suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. The
suspension of the privilege of the writ shall apply only to persons
judicially charged for rebellion or offenses inherent in or directly
connected with invasion. During the suspension of the privilege of the
writ, any person thus arrested or detained shall be judicially charged
within three days, otherwise he shall be released.

With these safeguards, it is obvious that at present time, the president
cannot place the country under martial law. Madrigal as a senator is given
the power to review such action of the president, and as an individual
citizen, she could go to the Supreme Court. With this power, what is she
afraid of?

The President would be more afraid of declaring martial law because she
will face full repercussions should the Congress and Supreme Court revoke
it. And with her ailing popularity, such declaration will let her go down
the drain very easily. It will be a ground for another impeachment case.

It is true that the price of freedom is vigilance. However, it should be
vigilance with working knowledge of the supreme law and not unfounded
ignorance.

I am requesting Senator Madrigal and the many others who believe her to
read the Constitution. If ever Senator Madrigal claims she knows the
provisions of the Constitution regarding martial law, then she is a
demagogue trying to poison the mind of many ignorant people.

[tolstoi]

nyahaha..i personally saw this interview.. i think last wednesday in abs-cbn news around 7pm..that was when Sen. madrigal admitted to Ted Filon that the person on the video carrying a gun is her bodyguard..she really talked frantically on national tv about the abuse of the police she gone thru during the rally...and i think she was in tears when she expressed her anger on what happened..nya martial law na gyud kuno daw sa pinas....i was really amused coz she doen't sound like a senator during that interview...

[estor_boot]

bitaw. sa barog lang daan morag authestic nga may pag ka abno! (forgive my words)

i saw her interview with Ted Failon over TV Patrol World few nights ago. Failon just asked her if it was her bodyguard caught by the cam of the police with a gun during the dispersal. it take 5 minutes for her to answer the question directly. she even mention her anti illegal logging advocacies nga morag layo ra kaayo sa isyu.

and oh.. pangdrama iyang tingog ha!

ai, miga man diay ni sila ni Juday. no wonder.

[BeoR]

...at least she was successful in achieving what she really wanted... MEDIA COVERAGE!

[zengatsu]

paita sad uy! kailangan cguro ni cya mu take balik ug polsci..hehehe

[arnoldsa]

They claimed that their procession was religious in nature and yet the personalities present came from the opposition and leftists groups...

Why was there a Fiesta? was there a celebration, a holiday, or whatever to warrant a religious procession?

It all boils down to the fact that their rally was no more than another anti-gma one.

Even Archbishop Rosales of Manila himself said that the "cannonization" was JUSTIFIED (Inquirer, Oct. 20 issue)...

[NPA]

ang isyu ani mga bai kay dili man ang pagsinabligay o ang pag-apil sa mga beterano, sa mga pari o sa mga senador sa mga lihok protesta. atong tan-awon kung ngano mireklamo sila, ang ato man gud nakita sa telebisyon dili man gud ang ilahang tumong kung ngano.

sa wala pa mibuto ang helo garci...ang demanda sa Malacanang kay YES to DUE PROCESS, nangwaldas pa sila og mga campaign ads nila para dili lang i impeach ang tikasan, so giagi og due process...apan apan, gipatay ang due process, pinaagi sa paghikaw sa tinuoray nga rason aron masuta ang tinuod.

Kamo kuno beh, kung di mo guilty akusahan mo og dili tinuod, dili ba mo moreklamo? Kung dili tinuon natural imbestigaho, apan apan, ngano man kining tikasan nga peke nga presidente wala man misumiter sa iyahang kaugalingon para matin-aw nga dili gayud siya kadto.

Mao na ang epekto ngano ang mga tawo karon nangita og hustisya.

[tolstoi]

bai NPA and company......kung nangita lagi mo hustisya bai dili nato ipaagi ug rally2x para dili ta masabwagan ug tubig..nya dili maulawan sad bah..nya dako sad kaayo ni impact sa atong ekonomiya.

kung naa man gani mo problema/kaligut-gut sa atong gobyerno ipaagi nato sa due process bai..abli man na atong korte file mo ug kaso! :mrgreen:

[arnoldsa]

The issue here is the claim of Jamby Madrigal and company that the rally was "religious" when in fact it was political masked with pseudo-religious themes.. No less than Archbishop Rosales himself said that the hosing down was justified..

[potterboy]

hustisya ka dyan, unsa may labot ana sa kamarokoy anang oposisyon. during her interview, klaro kaayong na-irita si Ted Failon kay ang pangutana tubagon man sa iyang mga achievements ug uban pang mga poisonous nga mananap nga wala sa isyu.

ug simbako namatay to sa guingona ngadto, ang blame adto nasad ni GMA?

unya unsa may nakareligious ato nga majority sa mga naa ngadto mga raliyesta raman? adto-adto SILA kunohay para naa sad HIGHLIGHT?

Jamby was after the Media Coverage alryt. she thought she was soooo heroic on tv, wet and all. damn, TRAPOs are starting to get dumb.

NPA, if u fight for what is right, ayaw mo pagamit sa mga Politico nga klaro kaayong MANGGAMITAY.