MANILA: The feud between the Philippines’ judiciary represented by Chief Justice Renato Corona and the executive department headed by President Benigno Aquino 3rd could eventually affect the economy now being battered by the economic slowdown in Japan and the United States and the debt crisis in the Eurozone.
Leaders of the business community here have expressed concerns about the effects of the impeachment of Corona on the overall performance of the Philippine economy which has slowed down during the past three quarters.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 3.2 percent in the third quarter, the lowest among the emerging markets in Asia.
The country’s full-year growth is not expected to exceed 4 percent, or less than the Aquino administration’s low-end forecast of 4.5-percent to 5.5-percent growth for 2011.
Although the House of Representatives had transmitted the articles of impeachment against Corona to the Senate, the country’s stock market, the barometer of economic strength or weakness, has remained unaffected.
But Hans Sicat, president of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), said that if the issue would worsen, it would certainly have an impact on the market and the business sector as well.
News reports quoted Sicat as saying that if investors feel that the situation in the country is very unstable, “then it will have a negative effect on the market, including the stock market.”
Because of the financial turmoil in Europe, the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) and hot money to the Philippines has slackened.
Reports also quoted Jeffrey Woodruff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce, as saying that the rule of law and political stability in the Philippines are among the top concerns of the business community although he refused to directly comment on the ongoing quarrel between Mr. Aquino and Corona.
First Grade Holdings managing director Astro del Castillo agreed with Woodruff’s views, saying that one of the business sector’s considerations of the market is political stability.
“This is not really good for the investment community. We’re still in the dark, and it’s a touchy [situation],” del Castillo was quoted as saying.
But presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda is confident that the fight between President Aquino and Corona would not affect the country’s economic growth, saying that economic activities in the coming year could even accelerate with the passage of the P1.8 trillion national budget for 2012.
The Senate, which is composed of 23 senators, would not start the impeachment hearings against Corona until the middle of January next year and the hearings could drag on for months.
Aquino has charged that on several cases brought before the Supreme Court, Corona has consistently decided in favor of Arroyo who appointed him to his post.
Critics of the administration have said that the impeachment of the chief justice had “a chilling effect” on the entire judiciary and could erode the check-and-balance principle among the judiciary, executive and the legislature, the three branches of government.
House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman had warned that Aquino’s attacks against the high court could result in a constitutional crisis, branding the attacks as “uncalled for and inciting popular disregard” for the judiciary.
Corona has accused the president of wanting to become a dictator by making the judiciary subservient to the executive department. He warned that the move against him “could destroy democracy”.
But Aquino, who is still hugely popular among Filipinos, denied that he has dictatorial tendencies, stressing that his only objective is to remove Corona so that his avowed goal of ridding the government of corrupt officials could be achieved.
He said that Corona has been the stumbling block to the reforms that he wanted to institutionalize in the government.
The only other Philippine official whose impeachment led to a trial was former President Joseph Estrada.
After his impeachment trial in the Senate collapsed due to procedural lapses, Estrada was overthrown by a military-backed popular uprising in early 2001 that installed then Vice President Arroyo to the presidency.
Estrada, who held the presidency for only two of his six-year term, was convicted of plunder but was later pardoned by Arroyo.
XINHUA
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