SC: Drilon, not Atienza, is Liberal Party chief

The Supreme Court en banc declared Senator Franklin Drilon the 'legal' president of the Liberal Party, radio dzBB reported on Tuesday. Voting 9-5, with one abstention, the High Court granted Drilon's petition seeking to restrain the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from implementing its resolution ordering the election of new set of officers after a leadership dispute erupted between Drilon and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza. Drilon, who became critical of the Arroyo government, was unseated from the party through a coup d'etat, and was replaced by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza. In the two-page resolution, the Supreme Court denied Atienza's claim that Drilon's term of office to serve as party president should have ended July 2006, since he merely assumed the remaining 22 days of the three-year term of former LP President Florencio Abad. Abad was forced to leave the party when he was appointed education secretary. According to the SC, Drilon has until November 30, 2007 to serve his term as head of the party under Daza-Drilon constitution, which has effectively replaced the Salonga constitution. Under the Salonga constitution, Drilon is deemed chair of the party in a holdover capacity, in which the election of party officers could be fixed by the poll body. On the other hand, in the Daza constitution, there was no such thing as a holdover position so that Drilon could serve a full term as party chair from September 8, 2004 up to November 2007. The SC also held that the Comelec has jurisdiction over the petition of Drilon questioning Atienza's election as party president during a meeting attended by the members of the National Executive Council on March 2, 2006. In another report, dzBB said Drilon saluted the High Court for issuing a decision that vindicated him and his allies. He was hoping the decision would signal LP's reunification. Other LP members also welcomed the decision. Abad, who is LP vice president, said: “The Supreme Court has spoken, let’s unite behind Sen. Franklin Drilon as the duly president of Liberal Party. Let us support his leadership and consolidate for the May elections." Genuine Opposition Senate bet Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, an LP member said: “We’re happy with the decision. We hope that Atienza supporters will abide with the SC ruling and wait for the LP election. Let us start to heal the wounds inside the LP." Meanwhile, Atienza said on Monday that he will counter the decision through a motion for reconsideration that he will file at the High Court. “We are filing a motion for reconsideration. It does not make sense since the SC in an earlier resolution remanded back to the Comelec (Commission on Elections) the authority to resolve a leadership dispute that had hobbled it since 2005," said Atienza in a telephone interview. Atienza insisted that Drilon’s term as party head ended in July 2005 and this prompted him to call for party election months later. Also in 2005, Drilon’s group called for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo following allegations of massive cheating during the 2004 polls. Atienza, a known ally of Mrs Arroyo, accused Drilon of not consulting the LP’s executive body which is the organization’s policy-making body when he called for the president’s resignation. In March 2006, Atienza held a party convention wherein he was elected as LP president although Drilon insisted that he is still the organization’s head until November 2007. Drilon appealed before the Comelec to declare the Atienza LP wing illegal. In October 2006, the poll body ordered that the two factions hold a national assembly on November 13 of the same year to finally settle the LP’s leadership dispute. Drilon elevated the case to the Supreme Court, which ordered the Comelec to stop from supervising the LP election. - with reports from Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV