KMU to Noy: Why Davide?

Why him?

This was labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno’s question to incoming president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, after the latter appointed former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. as head of a Truth Commission tasked to bring “closure” to various issues hounding the Arroyo government.

“Why Davide? In the midst Mrs. Arroyo’s numerous grave crimes, we never heard former CJ Davide criticize her. For three years, he served as Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations – a post given to him by Mrs. Arroyo,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.

“Why is somebody loyal to Mrs. Arroyo being tasked to ferret out the truth about her activities while in power? With Davide at the helm, we fear that it won’t be a truth commission, but a lie commission,” Labog added.

KMU said Davide enjoyed the Filipino workers’ and people’s high respect when he headed the impeachment trial of former Pres. Joseph Estrada and swore Arroyo in to power in Jan. 2001. But when he avoided at least criticizing Arroyo amidst the scandals rocking her regime, his act of swearing her in took on a different meaning.

“In hindsight, nine years after, his swearing in of Arroyo to power appears differently. Knowing what we know now as to how judges of the Supreme Court are also allied with politicians, which is something the Arroyo regime taught us clearly, the suspicion arises that Davide is loyal to death to the Arroyos,” Labog said.

Labog said going after Gloria is one of Aquino’s most prominent promise when he was still running for the presidency. He said Aquino is making a wrong first move in appointing Davide to a commission that will investigate Gloria.

“This is a bad start. Perhaps Noynoy and his screening committee were thinking of impartiality when they made this decision. But Davide is close to the Arroyos. Is that impartiality?” asked Labog.

“While we are rejoicing over the removal – at last! – of Gloria from Malacanang, we should remind the Filipino workers and people to be vigilant. It is easy for Gloria and Noynoy to reconcile, because they belong to the same elite class. We should force Noynoy to punish Gloria for her crimes against the workers and people,” Labog concluded.