Business Circuit

Based on how the majority of nine upheld the executive privilege, widely suspected as pressured by Malacañang, the President would have appointed nearly all of the members of the Supreme Court by the time her term expires on June 30, 2010.

This kind of "control" could be very well mean that President Arroyo is protected by the men she appointed to the Supreme Court to defend the Constitution but will support her instead.

So, we will have a Gloria Court. She will appoint six more magistrates before she steps down.

It seems that the days of the Chief Justice having full command of the Court are over. Chief Justice Reynato M. Puno is a staunch defender of the Constitution.

So is the majority. They also defend the Constitution but in favor of the President. The executive privilege ruling is one of the worst examples of how the Court is controlled by the President.

I and probably the nation have gone through the cruelty of false hopes since President Arroyo grabbed power in 2001.

Initially, I drew much comfort from her commitment that she will stamp out corruption. She did not. Thievery grew worse as she plods along.

But I have always thought that the Supreme Court will be spared by the awesome powers of the President. Or the members of the Court will realize that they are the last bastion of a country that represents itself as democratic. They will be their own men owing loyalty to nothing else but the Constitution.

It turns out that their interpretation of the Constitution as shown in the case of executive privilege is in favor of the President but interpreted variously as defense of Constitution, After the Court has spoken with finality, the filthiest of its decisions become part of the law of the land.

It is in defense of the Constitution that favors the President. No buts or ifs about that. As I frequently mention here, the members of the Court are right even if they are wrong.,

Again as in the case of the executive privilege.

I am scared that by the reality that the Supreme Court will be composed completely of jurists appointed by President Arroyo by the time she steps down in 2010.

Chief Justice Reynato M. Puno retires in May 2010. Under the law, the president who steps down on June 30, 2010, cannot appoint the Chief Justice 90 days before a national election.

So President Arroyo cannot appoint the successor of Mr. Chief Justice Puno. But hardly anything can change for as long as the rest or at least majority of the Court are in office after the President steps down.

Personally, I am scared that the Court will decide in favor of an ex-president on cases that can involve a long prison term. I suspect that acquittal from heinous crimes is more likely than conviction.

Again, the basis of this fear is how the majority of nine in the Court upheld executive privilege which practically gives the President a legal cover for hiding the truth. In fact, for shielding a crime.

From the looks of the revamp or reshuffle of the cabinet, one can draw the conclusion that the President has started the formation of a truly political official family.

I guess she is buying protection by buying blind loyalty of cabinet secretaries.

With possible full protection from the Supreme Court even after Mrs. Arroyo retires on June 30, 2010 made easier by a political cabinet, it is now difficult to say whether the true intent of the Constitution will hold sway among the jurists where a former President Arroyo is concerned.

This gets me to thinking that corruption in this government where President is involved may not be punished after she becomes a private citizen.

It is obvious that she is making the preparations for that. She started by having the Court uphold her on executive privilege.

I suppose the privilege may no longer be invoked after she steps down. But that is not half as important as how the Court she appointed will vote in possible criminal cases that may be filed against her after June 30, 2010.

To misquote Abraham Lincoln, President Arroyo is not striving to finish the work "we are in." She is not binding up the nation’s wounds. She inflicts more harm. The Court is with her.

It is entirely possible that the Senate can agree to a Constitutional Assembly as a better mode of amending the Charter than People’s Initiative.

If that happens, the House will likely than not propose a federal-parliamentary system and put it to a vote. As the Constitution requires, a both of three fourths of Congress is necessary to move the amendment forward.

The House will deliver the three-fourths vote. My fear is that if one or two or several senators loyal to the administration attend the convening of the Constitutional Assembly, it may very well claim that the voting is joint, not separate.

The case goes to the Supreme Court.

Again, using the majority of nine votes on executive privilege, the Supreme Court may well agree that the voting is indeed joint, not separate. Some senators were present in the voting. If they believe it is separate they will not join the members of the House in joint session to get the vote.

Another evil is at hand. This may well be a way of extending the term of the President beyond 2010.

The desire to extend the term is no longer borne out of hunger for power. It is a means of protecting herself against criminal cases. If she stays on, she will definitely appoint jurists loyal to her and not to the Constitution.

We are living in very dangerous times. This is worse than hunger.