"Carpio, Morales and Del Rosario do not belong to the Senate."
"Carpio, Morales and Del Rosario do not belong to the Senate."
Last March 18, an anti-administration group called 1Sambayan publicly anointed itself as the unofficial political opposition party. The group said it will oppose all candidates to be endorsed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in the May 2022 elections.
Three names appear to be the front end of the 1Sambayan senatorial ticket for 2022, namely, retired Supreme Court Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio-Morales, and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.
They have nothing in common except their consuming desire to discredit President Duterte and to regain their lost influence in government.
Carpio was in the Supreme Court for almost two decades and wielded power and influence in several administrations. All that diminished when President Duterte assumed office in 2016, and ended when Carpio retired from office in 2019. Now 71 years old, Carpio still wants to remain in power, and this time as a senator.
In June 2010, Morales was more than willing to accommodate the wish of President Benigno Aquino III for her to administer his oath of office, never mind if the traditional honor belonged to her colleague, Chief Justice Renato Corona. Her doing so was a political act, and it politicized the Supreme Court.
By administering the oath to President Aquino, Morales knew that she would be seen by the public as a leading ally of the president and his dilawan Liberal Party.
About a month after retiring from the judiciary in 2011, Aquino appointed Morales Ombudsman. As Ombudsman, Morales was criticized for her virtual inaction on cases filed against Aquino and his political allies. Was it payback time? That was the question in everyone’s mind back then.
Why Morales even accepted the job of Ombudsman is puzzling. Forcibly retired from the Supreme Court in 2011 upon reaching 70 years, she still took on the job of Ombudsman. No wonder she was criticized for her lackluster term. She was probably too tired to go after crooks in office.
Morales is almost 80 years old now, and she is still eyeing a seat in the Senate.
Like Morales, the 81-year old del Rosario is an appointee of President Aquino III. Del Rosario was Aquino’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs. His close ties with the Aquino family go back to President Corazon Aquino. Del Rosario often accompanied Mrs. Aquino on her trips abroad.
He obtained his high school and college education abroad. It is not known if he can actually deliver a speech in complete Pilipino.
Citing failing health, del Rosario stepped down as Foreign Affairs Secretary in March 2016. If that is so, why is del Rosario still planning to run for the Senate next year? At 82 years, and with his health failing, isn’t del Rosario better off retired?
At best, the Carpio-Morales-del Rosario threesome is a high-end clown act for a three-ring circus. Recent history affirms this.
In March 2019, Morales and del Rosario filed a criminal case against China’s President Xi Jinping before the International Criminal Court. Citing China’s maritime bullying in the South China Sea, Morales and del Rosario accused Xi of having committed crimes against humanity. To complete the threesome, Carpio lawyered for them.
Since China is not a signatory to the treaty which created the ICC, the case against Xi was summarily dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. That is the most embarrassing way to lose a case.
As retired justices of the highest court in the land, Carpio and Morales must have known that the ICC has no jurisdiction over China. From the way Carpio has been lecturing in public about the maritime quarrel between Manila and Beijing over the South China Sea, Carpio himself sounds like an expert in International Law
The same can be said of del Rosario who, as the top diplomat of the nation, is expected to know the basic postulates in International Law.
Carpio, Morales and del Rosario knew that the case they filed against Xi was going to be dismissed. That notwithstanding, they still filed the case.
Were they seeking publicity in anticipation for a future run for public office? Whatever their motive was, they sure made the Republic of the Philippines a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.
In one swift, brainless move, these three clowns caused the country a lot of public embarrassment. Why then should the Filipino people believe these three clowns? More importantly, why should they be elected to public office after embarrassing the Philippines in the international community?
If Carpio, Morales and del Rosario are the best 1Sambayan can offer for 2022, then all their candidates are headed for certain defeat.
Clowns like Carpio, Morales and del Rosario belong to the circus, not the Senate.