Attorney Bruce V. Rivera recently took it to Facebook to point out that during the time of former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, he too violated the separation of powers of the branches of the government that is stated in the Philippine Constitution.
Former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV/ Photo from Rappler
In his post, he accompanied it with a clip from a video from Rappler, where former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile questioned the affairs of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
According to Rivera, Trillanes was ordered and authorized by then President Aquino to travel to China to conduct backchannel talks. He adds that after this encounter, China build structures in the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea.
He calls out how this instance is a clear violation that the roles of the legislative branch and executive branch inter-lap.
He says because talks are supposed to be executive and diplomatic in nature, having a senator who is part of the legislative branch do the talks violates the previously set separation.
He adds that Enrile had a right to question Trillanes’ travels, especially because he was Senate President.
Read Rivera’s full post here:
"This is was time that Trillanes was authorized by President Aquino to do backchannel talks with China.
After the talks, China was able to build structures unhampered in the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea. Now, why is the executive branch sending someone in another co-equal branch to do something which is not legislative in scope but executive and diplomatic in character. Hindi ba trabaho yan ng DFA at ginagawa ng isang senador. Is the President and Trillanes not violating the separation of powers proscribed in the Constitution.
Clearly, Trillanes really has to explain this. The structures buIlt by China to give them a stronghold on these islands came after these Trillanes backchannels. And the land used to reclaim some of the islands allegedly came from the mining operation of another LP.
And as Senate President, Enrile had every reason to inquire on the affairs of Trillanes. But if you noticed, hindi masyadong pinalaki ang issue ng media. And if you would listen further to the video, towards the end, there was a Senator who spoke to defend Trillanes after he walked out. Imee Callao, do you know the Senator in the very last portion?"
Watch the video below:
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Source: Atty. Bruce Rivera | Facebook
Source: News Keener
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