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Authorities have placed the country鈥檚 economic growth at risk by shoving aside the rule of law to pave the way for the sneak burial of dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Friday, Vice President Leni Robredo said yesterday.
鈥樷�楾he risks we face now as a country have to do with divisiveness and senseless disregard for rule of law,鈥� Robredo said in her keynote speech before the Philippine Investment Retail Conference.
She said that even as the country logged the fastest economic growth in Asia, at 7.1 per cent, for the third quarter of the year, 鈥渢here are, however, storm clouds in the horizon.鈥�
Noting that the Supreme Court鈥檚 Nov. 8 decision to dismiss the petitions against the burial has yet to become final and executory, Robredo said it was disturbing that the burial pushed through 鈥渋n coordination with some government agencies who have participated in disregarding a judicial process.鈥�
鈥淭here are sectors in our society who insisted on carrying out this act, and therein lay the risk. Such divisiveness and political turmoil distract our economy from the work that would bring growth,鈥� she said.
鈥淎nd ultimately, it is those that are at the fringes of the economy鈥攖he last, the least, and the lost鈥攚ho are the most vulnerable,鈥� she said.
Robredo stressed that the issue of the Marcos burial will always be relevant under the 1987 Constitution, which is anchored on social justice.
鈥淲e cannot talk seriously about the Philippines鈥� growth prospects without considering as well the depth and scope of our country鈥檚 history. To truly move forward, we must hold a deep reverence for the past, and the truth of its sorrows and victories,鈥� she said.
鈥樷�楾he Filipino poor are not faceless facts. Only by respecting the dignity of each person can we hope to empower them and transform them into our co-equals in reform,鈥� Robredo said.
The high court鈥檚 decision lifted the status quo ante order that suspended burial preparations since August and prevented the Marcos family from burying the dictator鈥檚 remains in time for his 99th birth anniversary on Sept. 11.
But the National Union of People鈥檚 Lawyers (NUPL) on Saturday that while it had yet to file an appeal, the judicial process remains ongoing since it filed on Nov. 11 an 鈥渆xtremely urgent motion to hold in abeyance and/or issuance of new status quo ante.鈥�
NUPL President Edre Olalia said 鈥樷�榥o official action or information was ever received鈥� on the motion 鈥渄espite our repeated queries.鈥�
At the time, they had yet to receive a copy of the decision. NUPL, which represents Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malaca帽ang, Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto, and two former Bayan Muna party-list representatives, said it still had until Nov. 26 to file their motion for reconsideration.
Olalia added that they intend on Monday to file a motion seeking to cite the Marcos family, the military and the police for contempt 鈥渇or their bad faith and premature execution of a decision that has yet to become final and executory.鈥�/rga
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