My latest Eagle Eyes column is a tale of two speeches on the PDAF scandal - that of Senator Estrada and Chief Justice Sereno. Judge for yourself which is more enlightening. "In the din and confusion of all these accusations and counter-accusations, many are now trying to make sense of it all and explain how this could have happened. In the flurry of events, many try to put forward suggestions on what policy, legal and institutional should be adopted to avoid a repeat of a scandal of this magnitude. Many have called for the abolition of the pork barrel, others for its reform. Others have focused on the accountability process and how to make sure it can work properly. For this latter aspect of the current controversy, I turn to another speech, one definitely more straightforward and enlightening than that of the good senator. I am talking about the speech Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno delivered, with her usual brilliance and clarity, during the 3rd Integrity Summit at the Makati Shangri-La last September 19. In that speech, entitled, “The Constitution and the Pork Barrel Scam”, Sereno sought to fill what she described as “a vacuum that is missing in the discussion, and that is, the Constitution’s place in addressing corruption”. She acknowledged a “general acceptance that the Constitution contains basic principles and rules that must be followed in the protection of the rights of the human individual against the possible all-powerful incursion of the State”. But according to Sereno: “What is often forgotten, however, is that the Constitution also provides a practical framework for addressing issues of governance. The constitutional framework is practical because it describes with sufficient clarity, the process by which accountability over public funds is to be ensured.” manilastandardtoday/2013/09/28/the-senator-and-the-chief-justice/
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 03:04:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015