LOPEZ FIRM HITS MIRIAM ON WORLD COURT BID

Only weeks after Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago partly blamed Meralco for high power rates, the ABS-CBN internet website in its top story tried to scuttle her candidacy for International Court of Justice (ICJ) by claiming that “some countries are moving to oppose her..., she has not even qualified for the highest court of the country.”

The story claims that “some countries are moving to oppose her,” without naming the countries or giving the reason for the alleged opposition.

The story also claims that “she has not even qualified for the highest court of the country,” referring to the decision of the Judicial and Bar Council not to even consider her nomination because they chose to adopt the policy of considering only incumbent Supreme Court justices.

Santiago recently presided over a televised Joint Congressional Power Commission hearing where she equally blamed Meralco and the National Power Commission (NPC), as well as alleged lax regulation, for the high power rates charged by Meralco.

Both Meralco and ABS-CBN are part of the vast Lopez business empire.

A top official in the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, alleged that “the negative spin of the news articles obviously affects the campaign since foreign embassies in Manila and the foreign service of other countries would report this to their capitals.”

The source also said that “the article would tremendously affect both the gains achieved by the Philippines in the campaign in the ICJ and its future efforts to preserve such gains to obtain more support.”

Santiago is not running in her own individual capacity, but as official candidate of the Philippines.
“The news article is full of unhelpful conjectures and factual errors,” the source said.

The derogatory item in the ABS-CBN website was published on May 23, only days after the probe on high Meralco rates.

Contacted for comment, Santiago said that the bicameral investigation was part of Powercom duties under the law.

While Santiago is Powercom chair, the co-chair is Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, son of President Arroyo, who has been urging Meralco to lower its power rates.

“I will have to take this in stride, because the Philippines has a culture of corruption. A vast business empire such as that of the Lopez family will not hesitate to use its media outlets, even to the point of destroying a national candidature, in order to protect their giant corporate profits,” Santiago said.

Santiago added that at least one newspaper columnist in a national daily had previously hinted that there would be a propaganda campaign against Santiago’s ICJ bid when because the columnist mentioned that her prior bid for another international court was scuttled because Santiago was an Estrada ally at that time.

Santiago added she would consider over the weekend whether she will avail of her options, such as a libel suit or a privilege speech on Monday, or whether she will just “suffer in silence” from the Lopez media firm.

“It is obviously the work of a dirty tricks department so evil that it hardly merits attention. In trying to destroy me, they are also destroying a Philippine national candidature. Sometimes iniquity is its own worst punishment,” she said.

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