GORDON, HOPES THERE WILL BE NO CONSTITUTIONAL
CRISIS BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE, JUDICIAL BRANCHES

Senator Richard J. Gordon is hopeful that the seeming discord between the president and the chief justice over the inclusion of several judges in the former's narco-list, would not lead to a constitutional crisis between the executive and the judiciary.

Gordon expressed disbelief that President Rodrigo Duterte would really declare martial law, adding that he may have only issued the statement out of pique.

"It's obvious na passionate ang ating presidente. I don't think he intends na pakialaman ang Judiciary, co-equal branch of government 'yan. In fact, he told the judges to report to the Supreme Court to explain their presence in the list. Dapat mag-usap sila. I don't believe that he will really declare martial law. I don't think he is going to declare martial law. Na-pique lang yan. I don't think nagpapapatay siya ng tao I don't think he is serious about that. Sinabi na n'ya 'yan noong araw pa eh. And besides hindi basta-basta mag- declare ng martial law. Remember dadaan pa sa Senado yan, dadaan sa Kongreso for approval and he cannot abolish the court. So it's useless to declare because the president will not have total control," he said.

Article 7, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution states, among others, that "(t)he 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 suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or the extension thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within thirty days from its filing."

The senator pointed out that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno had a point in warning the concerned judges against surrendering themselves to the police unless warrants have been issued against them.

"Tama din si CJ Sereno. Ang problema, mabagal ang mga prosecutors. Mabagal yung mga pulis na maghanda ng mga kaso. Kapag nakakuha ka ng ebidensiya at may arrest warrant ka, dapat properly arrested, properly prepared yung kaso. Ang abugado ay marunong at handang i-prosecute, properly arrested," he said.

Gordon also called on Duterte to exercise more prudence in his statements, lest he be misunderstood. He added that as a former mayor himself, he understands that there are times when a mayor makes statements that are misunderstood because of the pressure in implementing the law.

"It can be dangerous to everybody because he could be very, very misunderstood. I was also a mayor so alam ko yan. Meron kang mga statements na ibinibigay para ang tao ay makinig sa yo. Pero kung minsan, dapat konting hinay-hinay because he has got a lot of pressure. Isipin mo may Abu Sayyaf, may pressure dito sa NPA. He is getting it from all sides. Ang Amerikano pa nakikialam. Dapat konting pasensya pa tayo. Hindi naman siguro mangyayari 'yun. Especially since the president was a former prosecutor, I know that he is going to do something about the prosecutorial system dahil doon ang problema-mabagal," he advised.

The senator also reiterated his earlier advice to Philippine National Police Director General Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa to be careful with his statements because all kinds of people may imitate him and he is also unprotected against charges since he is not covered by immunity from suit.

Gordon also stressed anew that the country is not really helpless against the spate of killings since the PNP's Internal Affairs Service, under its charter, could conduct motu proprio investigations on policemen's firearms discharge.

"We are not helpless against that (killings). You have the law which requires that every time a policeman is involved in a shooting, whether it is a discharge of firearms or somebody is wounded or dead, there's got to be an investigation by the Internal Affairs Service. Nandyan yan so dapat gamitin natin yan. Halimbawa, binaril yung si Del Rio. Yan may imbestigasyon-naka-posas eh, makukulong ang mga pulis dun. Yung isang pulis nung isang araw hindi nya sinunod ang sistema, nakasakay yung tatlong naka-motorsiklo, siya nag-iisa dapat sinabi nya, 'taas ang mga kamay ninyo, bumaba kayo dyan at dumapa.' eh hindi nya ginamit yun proper procedure, eh. May failure, especially in this time, na nagkakaroon na ng takot ang lahat babaril kaagad yun. Yan ang situation na ayoko.