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Baguio City: Philippine President Gloria Arroyo suffered a second legal setback in a week yesterday when the Supreme Court struck down her order to break up street protests as she faced a political crisis. Arroyo, who weathered an impeachment attempt last year and an alleged coup plot this year, imposed the "calibrated pre-emptive response" in September to stop almost daily rallies calling for her to step down over allegations of vote-rigging and graft. Voting 13-0, with two of the 15 justices on leave, the court nullified the policy that had seen police using water cannon and clubs against protesters. But it upheld a law called BP 880 that was Arroyo's basis for imposing the order.
"The so-called calibrated pre-emptive response policy has no place in our legal firmament and must be struck down as a darkness that shrouds freedom," said Adolf Azcuna, an associate justice who wrote the 36-page ruling. "It merely confuses our people and is used by some police agents to justify abuses." Last week, the Supreme Court said another Arroyo order, which had prevented government officials from attending congressional hearings, was unconstitutional. Afterwards, her opponents in Congress vowed to reprise their inquiries against the president. The Supreme Court is expected to rule next week on a third Arroyo order that has sparked controversy the week-long state of emergency she invoked in February after the military said it foiled a plot by rogue troops, communists and some politicians.
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