Lawyers still urge SC to rule 1017's legality
Although President Arroyo has already lifted Proclamation 1017 and the state of national emergency, lawyers here are still urging Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the Chief Executive's declaration.
"Lifting it will not cure the problem. That this should not be repeated again is the cure," Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Visayas chapter president, lawyer Honorato Sayno told reporters Friday morning, shortly before Mrs. Arroyo issued a statement lifting the state of national emergency.
At around 9 a.m. Friday, lawyers held what Sayno calls a 'blitzkrieg rally' at the lobby of the Chief Justice Ramon Q. Avanceña Hall of Justice demanding the lifting of Proclamation 1017.
The IBP-Iloilo chapter's manifesto calls "(o)n the Supreme Court to decide with utmost speed and clarity various pending petitions questioning the constitutionality of Proclamation 1017 and the subsequent issuances of the executive branch in pursuant thereto."
Lifting the Proclamation should not render the various petitions moot and academic. The Supreme Court has to rule on this matter once and for all, Sayno said.
Monday this week, 17 groups filed separate opinions with the Supreme Court questioning the legality of Mrs. Arroyo's 1017, which placed the entire country under a state of national emergency following an aborted power grab by some military and police officials conspiring with the Left.
The Tribunal has refused to issue a Temporary Restraining Order, saying that it has scheduled an oral argument next week.
"After one week, we can say that we have thwarted this conspiracy and it is time for us to return to the proper work of society," Mrs. Arroyo said of the lifting of the state of emergency. "I have strong confidence that we have restored normalcy."
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said at a press briefing that the President decided to end the emergency on the assessment of the defense and justice secretaries and the Philippine National Police chief that the security situation had stabilized.
Bunye said that having lifted the emergency, the President has revoked General Orders 5 and 6, which are directives for carrying out Proclamation 1017.