PHILIPPINES IMPEACHMENT THREATS

Jailed Philippine ex-President Joseph Estrada has been trying to convince Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court because they unconstitutionally swore in Gloria Arroyo as the new president in January 2001. Read the article in Channel News Asia here. A June 8 editorial in the Philippine Daily Inquirer calls the move a "political gimmick." Columnist Randy David (also at the Inquirer) weighs in with this editorial. I can't resist quoting these lines from David's column, which could also have been written about our own Presidential succession controversy at the same time:

It is clear that on Jan. 20, 2001, the justices were acting against the background of a perceived crisis. They were concerned about the Constitution, but more than that, they felt protective of a political order they thought could rapidly descend into chaos. Rightly or wrongly, they believed that at that moment, only the Supreme Court had the credibility and power to avert lawlessness.

An odd parallel.