INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:12:00 10/21/2009
Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Inquirer Politics, Politics, Elections, Judiciary (system of justice)
MANILA, Philippines—Supreme Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez clarified Wednesday that Chief Justice Reynato Puno was not endorsing the candidacy of former president Joseph Estrada or any politicians joining the 2010 race.Paid advertisements appeared Wednesday in major dailies where Puno's picture appeared with a quotation lifted from one of his opinions, which read: “The better policy approach is to let the people decide who will be the next president. For on political questions, this Court may err but the sovereign people will not.”
The two-page political advertisement shows Estrada with Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay. Estrada was set to announce his presidential bid Wednesday afternoon.
This came as questions arise on the eligibility of Estrada to seek a second term as the Constitution prohibits reelection.
Estrada, 72, was elected president in 1998 but served only for three years. He was convicted of plunder in 2007 but was pardoned by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Marquez said that the quotation in the advertisement was lifted from the high tribunal’s ruling on the Tecson v. Comelec (424 SCRA 421) case.
"It involves the citizenship of Fernando Poe Jr.," Marquez said.
But he pointed that "it is not an endorsement and should not be perceived or used as such by any candidate."
Marquez also said no permission was given for the Estrada group to use Puno’s opinion in the advertisement.
"Definitely, the permission of the Chief Justice to use his picture and opinion was not sought, nor was it ever given. This is also in keeping with the nature of the Moral Force Movement convened by the Chief Justice to be non-partisan," he said.
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091021-231505/SC-denies-Puno-endorsing-Estrada-2010-bid
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