Yellow ploy of the writ backfires

By Ninez Cacho-Olivares - July 4, 2019 12:25 AM

It has become fairly clear just what the yellow-hued Writ of Kalikasan’s intention is, now that the orals at the Supreme Court has started, and now too, that SC Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has voluntarily inhibited himself from hearing the fishermen’s case.

“The Writ of Kalikasan plea failed to name as respondents previous government officials, which would naturally point to the yellow President and his administration officials.

The intent of the writ of course, as suspected earlier, is to get the SC to order President Duterte and his administration to enforce the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) ruling favoring the Philippines, but that the court could not order enforced.

Given the many questions posed by the SC justices to the fishermen’s counsels, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) officers and lawyers, it just doesn’t appear to be an easy fight for the Palawan fishers and their lawyers to get the High Court to order Duterte to enforce the PCA ruling which the arbitral court itself cannot enforce.

First off, some associate justices noted the fact that the Writ of Kalikasan plea failed to name as respondents previous government officials, which would naturally point to the yellow President and his administration officials who should have been included as writ respondents, especially as the disputed West Philippine Sea already showed that when it came to action from the Philippine side, the Aquino government officials turned tail and left the area where the Chinese ship had arrived and stayed there for sometime even after the Philippine military vessel left the area.

Chel Diokno, the fishermen’s counsel, had a very weak response to this, saying that petitioners named officials in the Duterte administration as respondents since they are the ones heading the agencies now.

That would be no different from charging in court Tomas for a crime committed by Ricardo.

Associate Justice Jean Paul Hernando pointed to the fact that these incidents occurred during the past administration headed by the yellow President, yet the group calls for the incumbent administration that was formed in 2016.

Part of that yellow administration was then Department of Justice (DoJ) now Aquino — appointed Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

As pointed out by the justice, Caguioa was then the justice chief and “having sat as DoJ secretary at a time when the government had evidence of violation of our laws, then it goes without saying that the officials of past administration having done nothing as to those 2012 violations should be made liable for these damages, including Justice Caguioa,” Hernando added. Oops, another justice who should recuse himself.

Clearly, the Philippines, for all its talk of taking control of the disputed fishing area, failed miserably to get China off its waters.

There was not only former President Noynoy Aquino’s confrontation with China but worse, the Philippines also lost by way of trade opportunities and infrastructure projects.

As for the yellows’ god, Uncle Sam, the American god could not even provide big loans and aid to this former colony of the USA.

And worse, Filipinos would be sitting ducks, should that happen.

It certainly won’t be easy sailing for the IBP lawyers who represent the Palawan fishermen and their Writ of Kalikasan.

Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza, in interpellating Diokno, pointed out that the petitioners took a “big, big, big leap” in saying the named government officials should be held accountable for damage brought by incidents before they assumed office in 2016, and that the damage was “ brought about by lack of enforcement by respondents.”

“You blame now officials that came in 2016 for all those acts that happened, that were damaging to us very severely before the officials came in,” Jardeleza stressed.

But this is not too puzzling a statement, considering that this yellow hued Kalikasan Writ’s intent is for the SC to issue a mandamus to force the current President to account for past actions that the yellow President and his administration’s yellows instead should be held accountable.

However, since these lawyers representing the fishermen are as yellow as their yellow-hued writ plea, they are hardly expected to make their idol, Noynoy, as well as his administrators accountable for any and all misdeeds their yellow president committed during his term.

And as it has always been their intent to get Duterte ousted and for the yellows to rise again in power and position, they figure that with the SC favoring the fishermen with its mandamus to get Duterte to comply, should he comply, this may well be met by the Chinese with some force which may just end up with the Philippines losing face and even losing more fishing ground.

But maybe what these yellows really want is for the Americans to come to their succor, as they seem to think that the great god America can bring down to its knees, China, even when same god under Donald Trump can’t even scare off North Korea and Iran, for that matter.

Through the PCA ruling, we lost Scarborough Shoal, a traditional fishing ground of Filipino fishers. These yellows, through the writ, apparently want the Philippines to lose all — for a return to power and position via Leni Robredo.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2019/07/04/yellow-ploy-of-the-writ-backfires/?fbclid=IwAR1JBeILBTXKKdzhi6FBIbMzxagrU6X8w2QyrGBj00qQI6MzU_t-mZ9Hlhs