By Atty. Farah G. Decano

 

FORMER Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio recently accepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s challenge to debate on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue. I was wondering if the former really wanted to be tortured by possible fallacious arguments including ad hominem hurled at him.

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As of this writing, President Duterte has yet to respond to the acceptance by the former magistrate of the challenge. I hope Du30 makes good his own challenge. It is good for the history books. Will we be watching two alleged pawns of superpower countries slug it out about an exclusive right under the United Nations Convention On the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) that does not even belong to these influential countries? 

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What I know is that Justice Carpio does not have a track record of allowing himself to be a pawn. He was an appointee of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) to the Highest Court of the land, yet, he decided a 2006 landmark case that was possibly against her interest. It was believed then that she was behind the movement that sought to amend the 1987 constitution even she distanced herself from them.  In that controversial case, a group called “Sigaw ng Bayan” requested the Supreme Court to reverse COMELEC’s decision denying due course to the people’s initiative which recommended changes to the constitution. The proposed charter change may consequently extend the terms of office of those presently holding elective positions.

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Justice Carpio did not mince words even if the same may possibly be directed at his appointer and her cohorts. In the said decision, he called the people’s initiative for charter change as a grand deception foisted on the 6.3 million signatories of the petition. Ouch. What scathing words!!! The decision is now part of legal history studied by present law students and a good fodder for discussion by several generations of law students to come.  What a painful verdict against those behind the proposed constitutional amendments.  The Carpio decision effectively condemned them as architects of a grand fraud.

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I am not betting on President Duterte making good on his challenge. It is an impossible WPS debate.   Remember his campaign promise to solve the drug problem in three to six months?  What about his commitment to jet ski to the Spratlys Islands and plant the Philippine flag thereon?  All these electoral promises just went down the drain.  Talking about broken promises, Senator Manny Pacquaio, also vowed never to go back to the boxing again if he won as senator.  Only three months after his election, he decided to return to the ring.   I know, right?  What the fudge!   Why is it so easy for elected leaders  to break a promise to the Filipinos?  Do they perceive us a nation of doormats?  How unpatriotic. How un-Filipino to treat one’s people as pudden-heads.

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Who do you think will be the winner in this WPS debate?  The audience will determine the winner is in this debate. An audience before charlatans will obviously choose one of their kind. Ah, let the debate be viewed, not only by ignorant thugs in street corners but by the entire Filipino nation, the historians included.  Let the contenders in this debate be judged not only by the present Filipinos but also by our descendants.

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Larga lang, Justice Carpio. Continue to educate the Filipinos and the generations to come on the WPS issue.  I have the same faith as yours.  The Filipinos are not a nation of fools.

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