In my previous articles I said that the President is putting his foot on the dangerous ground. However in his statement on national television last Monday, he is not just putting his feet on dangerous ground but has been crossing over the red thin line by attacking the Supreme Court for its rejection on the constitutionality of Disbursement Acceleration Program. Such vehement attack against the highest court of the land by the Chief Executive has created a lot of noise such that it's thundering across the nation. Consistent with his declaration against the Supreme Court, the President blatantly accusing that the highest court is wrong in its verdict that DAP is unconstitutional. Malacanang insists that DAP is legal and in accordance with law and the intention of the people behind DAP is to fast-track the economy. While it is true that the release of money through DAP has contributed to the growth of economy as indicated in our gross national product (GDP) but that cannot be used as an argument to justify the action of Malacanang.

The truth is the Supreme Court has spoken and its decision on DAP is beyond question. Basic to the study of political and constitutional law is that under the present presidential form of government, there are three co-equal braches: the executive, legislative, and the judiciary. The executive branch headed by the President is tasked by the Constitution to implement and execute the law; the legislative represented by Congress is empowered to formulate and legislate laws for the well-being of the people; and the judiciary headed by the Supreme Court is to interpret the true meaning and intent of the law. These three co-equal branches are there to check and balance the power of each branch so as to avoid potential abuse in power. When one branch over step in on the other co-equal branch, fragile democracy such as ours can be overtaken by some unscrupulous politicians and adventurous military officers.

The attack of the President against the Supreme Court might be part of his tactics in order for the Justices of the Supreme Court to reverse its decision when Malacanang would submit its motion for reconsideration. The President is trying his best to probably intimidate and influence the possible recantation of the highest court's decision to his favor. But this is clenching your fist against the wind. The unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court en banc against the DAP is highly to be reversed. The call of the President for all Filipinos to wear yellow ribbons for show of support to his program and leadership style is uncalled for. This would further divide the nation and the Filipino people. The color coding scheme of the President would not work at this time. What would the President do if his motion for reconsideration is denied? Will he bow down to the Supreme Court? Will he respect its decision? The defiant attitude of the President apparently will go against the justices. In fact, his political watchdogs in the lower house are trying to blackmail the justices of the Supreme Court through their proposal to scrap the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF), the so-called pork barrel of the highest court, they said.

Instead of reacting to what the President is doing through DAP and the apparently taking away from them the power of the purse, some congressmen who are political parasites of Malacanang, are trying to defend the President on this matter. The popularity of the President is waning down because of this mess. Time is running fast, and soon the President would become a lame duck President. Many of his cohorts would abandon him because of political alignment comes 2016. If the President could not and would not respect the Supreme Court's decision, how can we expect people of lesser influence to respect it? My unsolicited advised to the President is not to pursue the filing of his motion for reconsideration but humbly accept the decision of the highest court and move forward for the good of this nation. Because if and when the motion for reconsideration is pursued but denied, that would be another big SLAP on the face of the President.