THE COMBATIVE STANDOFF IN THE SENATE BUILDING

The people, the observers fear a crisis looming between the Senators and the Executive branch because the Senate President is too extremist on preventing the arresting army and police officers from taking custody Sen. Trillanes without a warrant of arrest issued by the court. SP Sotto refused to recognize PDU30’s Proclamation 572 ordering the arrest of Trillanes as his amnesty was declared null and void. SP Sotto whose exposure is a movie actor apparently did not understand that under the Articles of War, Proclamation 572 serves as a warrant of arrest. SP Sotto as a legislator may construct a law but certainly, he must not interpret a law.

It’s ironic SP Sotto was making an obstinate stand in favor of Sen. Trillanes at the expense of the peace and security of the country. SP Sotto failed to consider that his belligerent stance bestows him the kind of authority that would give mixed signals to the people and to the world to challenge the authority of the Philippine President in applying the rule of law which is his exclusive mandate under the Constitution. Common sense and common weal dictate that the military and the civilian courts have different kinds of laws to follow. PDU30 is applying the Articles of War for the arrest of Sen. Trillanes. Likewise, there is no law which says only by a warrant of arrest issued by the court can arrest an individual.

All I can say is I cannot understand why SP Sotto is doing this. If he is playing a hero, his action is misplaced because, by all intents and purposes, he is protecting a wanted person and by doing so, he is making the Senate as an epigraph of “HOODLUMS SENATE” instead of “People’s Senate”. With what SP Sotto is doing, everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken. Indeed, every once in a while, something happens and our lives are shaken up by outside forces. Unfortunately, this time it is strange that it is SP Sotto who is deliberately shaking up our country into a crisis and throw our world into a bit of a tailspin. The sky is just gray with dust.