In practically all of former chief justice Artemio Panganiban’s writings on the disqualification cases against Grace Poe, it has been evident that he is clearly leaning in favor of Poe. The more this became evident in his Jan. 10 column where he suggested six points—in what seems to be virtually a brief, but which some would consider more than a brief—for Poe’s lawyers, if not for the members of the Supreme Court itself who in all likelihood read his commentaries.
His choice of Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, front and center, as his poster boy in his Jan. 10 column does not come as a surprise, considering that Hilbay all but strengthens the case for Poe and, of course, the former chief justice’s personal view of the case.
Were this not so, he would have taken Hilbay to task rather than give him high praise for his “judicial greatness” and, wittingly or unwittingly, encourage others, the Supreme Court in particular, to follow what in his opinion Hilbay has done: “Rise to the moment and craft a grand historic decision.”
Whatever the case may be, no pun intended, please oblige a differing opinion, rather, a different point of view.
The position of president is too critical, too sensitive in terms of national security imperatives, to be entrusted to any person who has pledged allegiance to a foreign country for whatever reason. Pending a law that disqualifies that person from being president or any position in the line of succession for president, Poe can carve for herself a measure of greatness: “Rise to the moment and craft a grand historic decision” to withdraw her candidacy.
—WINSTON G. ARPON, Salcedo Village, Makati City