Creeping Martial Law

Is Noynoy a dictator in the making?

This week is proving to be an exciting one. For the first time, a possibility of a full-blown Constitutional crisis is looming. It starting with the expressed desire of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to seek medical services outside the country after three bone surgeries. Legally there's no impediment to her right to travel.

The Supreme Court decided to grant the Arroyo couples a temporary restraining order against their inclusion in the watch list order (WLO), thereby barring them to leave the country. Despite the SC TRO, de Lima stood firm on her decision that the WLO stands.

Sec. de Lima is at the risk of facing contempt charges (and even disbarment). But we all know that she is merely following Noynoy Aquino's strict and specific orders. If there's one thing Aquino wants to get done, it is seeing the former president behind bars. The marching orders have been given and are being followed to the letter.

Bureau of Immigration David gave orders to his agents not to allow the Arroyo couple board the plane last Tuesday night.

DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas dutifully gave instruction to all airports and ports to be on alert for the Arroyos.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines even issued an order addressed to all airlines not to allow the Arroyos to board any of their planes. The airline industry association, the Airlines Operators Council countered that can not abide with the order as this falls within the responsibilities of the immigration bureau.

Yesterday, Aquino's Congress allies filed a resolution expressing support for de Lima's position against that of the Supreme Court. Then there's an inside information that each congressman was given P 5 million pesos, an incentive of sort to sign the resolution. This is no more than an attempt to draw the legislative along the executive branch against the Supreme Court further deepening the constitutional crisis.

But the machination doesn't stop there.

A text message revealing PCSO Margie Juico's plan to muster warm bodies to picket the Supreme Court was leaked.

And worse, Noynoy's minions are now trying to get COMELEC Chairman Sixto Brillantes to sign a drafted en banc resolution that will finalize the electoral sabotage case against the Arroyos. Chairman Brillantes has been confined in a hospital. To make it appear that the resolution was not done in haste it was actually ante-dated which entails getting the hospital expunge Brillantes' confinement records.

If this is not excessive use of State power, can someone please tell me what it is!

There are some COMELEC commissioners who are hesitating to sign the resolution of an en banc that never happened.

Sen. Arroyo was putting it gently when he noted that Noynoy Aquino is showing totalitarian tendency. Many believe that what we now have is a de facto dictatorship. The rubberstamp Congress will have a hard time denying this.

And the Supreme Court? The standoff proves that it can be ignored by a presidential appointee who by the way is yet to be confirmed by the Committee on Appointments.

Who can the people turn to now . . . the military, perhaps? Now, that is something worth pondering.