Palace chides ex-Pres. Ramos over claim that impeachment won't solve poverty

Published February 27, 2012 8:45am

Malacañang over the weekend contested the claim of former President Fidel Ramos that the infighting between government branches due to the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona may not solve poverty.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that while impeachment may not be a direct solution to poverty, it puts in place an “accountability mechanism” that will eventually address poverty.

“Impeachment is not a direct solution to poverty but accountability mechanism natin is a way to get the systemic errors corrected. Paano tayo magkakaroon ng judicial reform kung pinuno ng isang branch ng pamahalaan ‘di sang-ayon sa repormang gagawin?” she said in an interview on government-run dzRB radio.

Last Saturday, Ramos, one of the key players in the EDSa-1 People Power Revolution, scored the infighting between government branches as seen through the impeachment trial of Corona.

He said the 26th anniversary of the EDSA-1 People Power Revolution was supposed to mark unity but "our coequal, powerful branches of government are so divided."

“That’s why now what we need is cooperation of all Filipinos and that’s something that won’t be attained just by impeachment ... Because there are still beggars, there are still starving people, and there are still jobless people. Impeachment will not solve the problem of poverty, inequity, and lack of jobs and a declining economy,” he was quoted as saying last Saturday.

Ties with Ramos In 1992, Corona joined the Ramos administration by concurrently serving as assistant executive secretary for legal affairs and head of the Malacañang Legal Office. In 1994, Corona was then named deputy executive secretary, and later on, presidential legal counsel and member of the Ramos Cabinet. SWS survey At the end of 2011, 45 percent of respondents in a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations on December 3-7 regarded themselves as poor.

This is roughly equivalent to 9.1 million households considering themselves as poor.

Not enough numbers to convict Corona?

Meanwhile, the Palace downplayed a reported claim by Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. that the prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona may not yet have the numbers to convict him at this time.

Valte said it is still up to the prosecution to determine how it would present its case before the Senate acting as an impeachment court.

“Nirerespeto natin opinion ni Sen. Villar dahil senator-judge siya. Ngunit when it comes to the presentation of the case, prosecution ang may discretion. It is up to them how they will take that comment ... It is the prosecution that determines how they will present case; in the same way it is the defense that determines how they will defend their client,” she said.

But Valte declined to comment on Villar’s claim that the trial may not end before the Holy Week break, saying the ball is now in the hands of the prosecutors.

Villar was quoted as saying he expects the impeachment trial to drag on, saying they would have rested their case if they had the numbers. The trial started last Jan. 16.

“How long this will be will depend on the prosecution and the defense,” Valte said. –KG, GMA News

Tags: abigailvalte, edsa1, coronaimpeachment, fidelvramos, poverty