longcuts archives

I got a chance to interview 3rd district solon Adam Relson Jala early last week regarding his TKO’d petition to declare as unconstitutional a provision in the Constitution prescribing the procedure for voting on an issue involving charter change.

In a minute resolution, the Supreme Court dismissed the Jala petition for being premature.

“Minute resolutions” are usually issued on technically defective petitions.

In other words, the Supreme Court did not see any need to go to a lengthy discussion to justify the dismissal of the case.

One way of saying the lawyer filing ought to know the technical defect and will not contest the finding that he “forgot” his rules of procedure.

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Why was his petition premature?

The Supreme Court did not say. But we can deduce.

The law books say that for the Supreme Court to intervene and decide on a constitutional issue, the issue must be ripe for judicial adjudication.

There must be a justiciable controversy before the Supreme Court will come in.

In the case of Adam Relson Jala, there must first be a conflict or controversy on the voting procedure involving the issue of constitutional change before the Supreme Court will rule on his petition.

There is none.

Being a member of the House and a lawyer at that, the young Jala knows it. But he probably thought he could do away with the procedural requirement when he filed his petition solo.

So he got his first taste of bitter defeat.

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But he can easily extricate himself from utter embarrassment.

He is young and inexperienced.

Circumspection is still a complete stranger to him.

While Adam Relson Jala has but a limited supply of prudence and discretion, he has an abundance of rashness, daring and braggadocio.

Which is typical of a young and promising lawyer.

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As such, I doubt if he called on his father and former congressman Boy Jala for advice before filing his petition.

If he did, I don’t doubt for a second that he would get the proper advice.

I also doubt if he sought the opinion of fellow solon Edgar Chatto and Ondoy Cajes. If he did, I am also certain he would get the “brakes” so his plan would be put to a stop.

Again, that’s because Adam Relson Jala is oozing with self-confidence that he must have felt he’s now “man enough to face the problems of the world.”

His youthful exuberance prevented him from wondering that if jaded or top caliber lawyers in the country have not dared file such petition, why should he?

Did he imagine for a second that suddenly, he possessed the “holy grail” on the issue of voting procedure to tackle charter change?

* * *

When we asked for the reason for the filing of the petition, Jala said he just wanted a definitive ruling on the voting procedure.

He said he is not after term extensions. He only wants to resolve the issue of voting procedure. And he went into a very lengthy “lecture” on the issues involved.

His rumblings went on as if we don’t know that if his petition will be acted upon favorably by the Supreme Court, he would be doing a very nice job of giving GMA a congressional franchise to extend her term beyond “the commerce of man.”

As in, he, he, he, he was motivated by the pureness of his heart.

* * *

But unknown to many, he did something in the halls of the House of Representatives before filing his petition in the Supreme Court.

And what is this?

On August 13 this year, Adam Relson Jala filed House Resolution No. 730 “TO CONSTITUTE THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INTO A CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DRAFTING AND PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO, OR REVISION OF, THE 1987 CONSTITUTION PARTICULARLY TO ESTABLISH A UNICAMERAL CONGRESS.”

Ahem!

So he wants the incumbent members of Congress to constitute themselves as a body that will draft and propose amendments to the Constitution. That’s Jala’s Con-Ass.

He also wants to scrap the idea of separate voting because he wants joint voting on the issue of charter change.

Now, now, does it need a lot of thinking to understand what is Adam Relson Jala’s ultimate goal?

* * *

It is common knowledge that in a separate voting, any proposal to amend the Constitution will die a natural death.

No problem in the House because they vote according to the dictates of Malacanang. So the proposal, like the one proposed by Adam Relson Jala will easily hurdle the opposition because the House is dominated by the likes of Jala.

But any similar move in the Senate will not prosper because the Senate is dominated by the opposition. Getting the required number of votes to pass the measure is impossible.

So Jala’s very “novel” solution – joint voting of the House and Senate.

What happens in a joint voting?

Even if the entire Senate membership will vote against, the required number of votes will still be met because of the overwhelming number of Malacanang allies in the House.

So the question – who will eventually benefit from Adam Relson Jala’s very “novel” petition to the Supreme Court (that is, if it was not thrown out of the window for being premature)?

Another question – does he need to even mention term limits in his petition?

This duplicity is terribly suffocating.

* * *

Do you know that the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has recently launched Operation Red Plate?

Anybody who spots a government vehicle being used outside office hours or for unofficial activities can report to the Ombudsman Visayas by sending a text message to (918) 979 5524 or call telephone numbers 416-6131 or 253-8609.

The report should include the vehicle’s plate number, the kind and color of the vehicle, and the place and time of the sighting.

Red plates are issued to government vehicles. These registration plates usually start with letter S.

So, it’s not difficult to spot government vehicles even if they are not marked “For Official Use Only.”

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Under the law, public officials and employees are not allowed to bring a government vehicle to places like markets, restaurants, hotels, resorts, or any other places where no official business is involved, not even if the unofficial activity is done along the way, such as picking up an official’s children from school.

Government regulations require that a trip ticket must be issued to the driver in order to use a government vehicle.

This form is signed by the chief administrative officer of the office concerned to attest that the vehicle is to be used for official business.

So those who are curious if this Oplan Red Plate is for real, try checking on bars and nights spots or even schools for red plates and text your discovery to the number indicated.

The text message should include all the basic information mentioned earlier.

More when we return, stay tuned for more. Comments, suggestions, write to salvadiputado@yahoo.com