May the US President prohibit a senior-level presidential aide who has been issued a congressional subpoena from testifying before Congress? This question was answered by US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson who ruled that the White House official must comply and testify before the congressional body. The White House defense that the President’s senior aide enjoys absolute immunity, which shields him from testifying before Congress, has been completely debunked by the judge who argued that such “defense simply has no basis in law. However busy or essential a presidential aide might be, and whatever his proximity to sensitive domestic and national security projects, the President does not have the power to excuse him from taking an action that the law requires.” And he concluded by saying that “the presidents are not kings.” This ruling should resonate everywhere where the highest official of the government is elected by the people. In a democracy, sovereignty resides in the people and any president who thinks otherwise suffers from a great delusion.
The avalanche of medals harvested by our super athletes at the ongoing SEA Games has more than made up for the initial problems that plagued the arrival of foreign players. In barely two days of competition, the Philippine contingent has almost doubled our total medal haul during the last staging of the event in 2017 in KL where the country placed last among the original members of the Southeast Asian nations. Now, every Tom, Dick and Harry will claim credit for our outstanding performance in the SEA Games. Defeat is an orphan; victory has many fathers. Recognition should go to the respective sports associations, sports leaders, trainers and coaches who have labored hard to achieve this extraordinary feat. Likewise, credit should also go to our government and our generous sports patrons who have provided the wherewithal to ensure that our athletes get the best training and preparations here and abroad. The 30th SEA Games will go down in history as a major sports event where there would be no finger-pointing among our sports leaders to pin the blame for the usual debacle, which normally characterized our participation in sports events in the past. When, not if, the Philippines wins the overall championship in this sports meet, the “cauldron” will finally become a unifying symbol for all Filipinos that we can overcome our differences and win as one country.
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The controversy that hounded the ouster of US Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, provides us a valuable lesson in constitutional government. Secretary Spencer’s case stemmed from the trial of a decorated Navy SEAL, Eddie Gallagher, who was accused of murdering an ISIS prisoner, shooting civilians and threatening his subordinates who squealed about his criminal acts during his stint in Iraq. He was eventually acquitted of the various charges filed against him, but the Navy still demoted Gallagher after he was found guilty of posing next to the dead body of a detainee. President Donald Trump took strong interest in his case and ordered the restoration of his previous rank and to stop the review to determine whether Gallagher would be removed or not from the elite commando unit. Such a removal would automatically mean the cancellation of Gallagher’s coveted decoration, the Gold Trident Pin. Despite Trump’s pressure and incessant tweets denouncing Spencer who was leading the review, the Navy vowed to continue the disciplinary process. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, a recent Manila visitor, had asked for Spencer’s resignation due to loss of trust and confidence in him by the White House. Esper added that he received an order from Trump for Gallagher to keep his pin but Spencer told him he would rather resign than implement that directive. Rep. Anthony Brown, a Democrat who chairs the House Armed Services committee and a former judge advocate general in the US Army, said that Trump “subverted our military justice system and undercut all those who serve our country while upholding its values.” In his resignation letter, Secretary Spencer clearly clarified his strong disagreement with Trump when he wrote: “The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries. Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect, I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander-In-Chief who appointed me in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline.” And Spencer concluded: “I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The last statement should be the bedrock principle that should guide the conduct of every appointive government official in a constitutional government like in the US and the Philippines. The Spencer case is not an isolated one. Many before him, and even up to now, have been subjected to the same, if not more severe, test except that they had supple spine and flawed character to stand by their conviction. Indeed, rare is a government official who will not compromise good governance just to keep his position and stay in power. In the present government, the late Environment Secretary Gina Lopez exemplified that vanishing breed when she showed that she would rather lose her Cabinet post than betray her principles.