Militant group twits Justice Secretary's colonial mentality, Lauds Pozon for Integrity

Release: 2006-12-14

Youth Members from AKBAYAN Partylist trooped to the Department of Justice today to denounce Secretary Raul Gonzales' 'Amboy' stance on Judge Pozon's refusal to turn over an American soldier convicted of rape to the US embassy. The group said that it was outraged by Gonzales' attack against the integrity of Judge Pozon.

"Secretary Gonzales is behaving as if he is under the payroll of the US embassy. He seems to have forgotten his mandate as the Secretary of the Justice Department. He has subsumed his duty to ensure the fair administration of justice to this government's colonial obligations to the US ," AKBAYAN President Ronald Llamas said.

Llamas added that no one would believe Gonzales' claim that Judge Pozon is biased and is simply courting attention and popularity from certain groups. "Judge Pozon stood up and ruled according to the merits of the case, while it was very clear from the start whose interests Secretary Gonzales was defending. He just seems bitter that despite the state prosecutors' attempt to bungle the case, Judge Pozon still ruled in favor of Nicole," said Llamas.

"This is not really surprising, since as the alter-ego of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Secretary Gonzales should simply mirror the sentiments of Malacañang. In other words, only a tuta can effectively represent another tuta," he added.

While the group lauded the recent order of Judge Pozon on the custody issue, it stressed that the ultimate goal should lead to the scrapping of the Visiting Forces Agreement. "The Senate must act immediately to rescind the treaty, since it is clearly favors the Americans. Although we are generally happy with Judge Pozon's ruling on Nicole's case, there will be other incidents and cases that may not be as positive. Ultimately, the Senate must follow what Judge Pozon did: break away from the clutch of American interests and stand up for the nation," said Llamas.

...and hails Judge Pozon as Defender of Philippine Sovereignty

A delegation of AKBAYAN members led by Rep. Etta Rosales is set to pay tribute to Judge Benjamin Pozon at the Makati RTC this afternoon. AKBAYAN will honor Judge Pozon with a “People’s Medal of Valor” for standing up to defend the sovereignty of the nation amidst the pressures from Malacanang and the US government.

“His integrity and steadfast determination to deliver justice in the Subic Rape Case deserve the admiration and gratitude of the nation,” declared the AKBAYAN solon. According to Rep. Rosales, “our tribute to Judge Pozon is aimed at showing the public’s appreciation of his efforts to defend the honor of the nation especially now that he is being criticized by Justice Secretary Raul Gozales and the US embassy.”

AKBAYAN will give flowers to the Subic Rape Case judge and will hold a short program for the man whom they call as “Tagapagtanggol ng Dangal ng Pilipino.”