Palace will never interfere with courts: Panelo
Malacanang said it will never interfere with the judiciary following two court decisions last Friday.
The first was the acquittal of former Senator Ramon Revilla Jr from plunder charges in the Sandiganbayan and an arrest warrant by the Davao Regional Trial Court on Senator Antonio Trillanes IV following a libel complaint from former Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.
"Detractors and critics of the President are quick to malign the Administration thinking that it has a role in decisions deliberated upon and pronounced by courts of law. For their information, we do not. This is particularly true in graft cases, as these are prosecuted not even by us but by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan," said Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Sunday
"As we have said, we respect the independence of the other branches of the government and we do not - and we will never - interfere in their affairs," he added.
Panelo said the executive branch, "are mere implementers of the Constitution and laws created by Congress, as well as of the interpretations or orders arising out of legal conflicts by the Judiciary."
On the Trillanes case, Panelo said: " Instead of facing this squarely, however, the Senator from Bicol ranted and released a fiery statement before the media attacking the Administration, as his usual style."
"Senator Trillanes is certainly out of his wits. His latest remarks prove once and for all that he is an incorrigible rabble rouser and perennial whiner, a false accuser who, when hailed to court, cries like a baby reminiscent of staging a coup and surrenders instantly even without a gun being fired from the government forces," he said.
Trillanes claimed justice under the Duterte administration is "inverted." "He freed the plunderers while the critics will be facing charges so they will be imprisoned."
"His being a Senator can not excuse him from prosecution from those he has wronged. Instead of employing squid tactics and smearing the Administration, he should focus on the legal remedies available to him," said Panelo. DMS
