House minority blames PNoy’s advisers for legal ‘setbacks’

Members of the opposition at the House of Representatives on Wednesday blamed President Benigno Aquino III’s advisers for the various legal “setbacks" suffered by his administration and advised him to consider replacing some of his advisers. Deputy Minority Leader Milagros Magsaysay said Aquino should consider replacing presidential legal counsel Eduardo de Mesa, whom she said has been giving the President “bum" advice. “I think PNoy, so he will not suffer all these setbacks in court, should look into the qualifications of his advisers and see that probably, they are not really doing a good job in advising him properly," she said at a press briefing. “You’re the President. You should get the best legal minds to help you run this administration, yet he is getting bum advice from these people," she added. Magsaysay made the statement a day after the Supreme Court stopped Malacañang from implementing the administration-backed Republic Act 10153 or the law postponing elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The lawmaker added that it will not look good for the administration if all its orders and issuance are being challenged before the high court. “From the start of this administration, Executive Order 1 pa lang, it was already struck down. Hindi magandang batting average ‘yan na lahat ng ginagawa niya ay laging kinukwestiyon in the courts," she said. Magsaysay was referring to Aquino’s first directive forming the Truth Commission, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last December. Political advisers, too House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, meanwhile, attributed the legal challenges being experienced by the Aquino administration to the President’s political advisers. He said that flawed advice from the legal counsel usually stems from actions by Aquino’s political team, led by presidential adviser on political affairs Ronald Llamas. “The problem really is that the legal advisers endeavored to sustain the actions of the presidential political advisers. Kaya kapag mali political advisers, mali din ang legal advisers," he said at the same press briefing. Lagman was one of the parties who filed a petition before the SC to strike down the ARMM polls postponement law. Strike 3? The opposition leader likewise said that he is expecting to score another victory against the government in the petition before the SC challenging the legality of Republic Act 10149 or the law governing government-owned and –controlled corporation (GOCCs). Lagman questioned RA 10149 before the high court last July for supposedly violating the security of tenure of civil servants and for abdicating congressional powers. Deputy Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, for his part, said that the administration should not wait for a “strike 3" before axing some of his advisers. “Siguro heads should roll already… Naka-format kasi ang makinarya ng gobyerno on the assumption na hindi mate-technical ang gobyerno sa ganitong issue," he said. He added that errors committed by the Aquino administration only cause “sheer wastes of time for the people and the government." — KBK, GMA News