MANILA – Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo, who has been tasked by the Arroyo administration to defend proclamation 1017 before the Supreme Court, has abruptly submitted his irrevocable resignation effective April 1. Benipayo resigned after allegedly being accused by some Cabinet members of bungling the oral arguments before the Supreme Court last week on the constitutionality of Presidential Proclamation 1017. Sources said Benipayo was asked to resign by President Arroyo and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez who acted as the bringer of the presidential displeasure.
During the marathon oral arguments on March 7, Benipayo said PP 1017 did not contain any provision that authorized arrests without warrant, raids and confiscations, and the supposed violation of the constitutional right of freedom of assembly, speech, and of the press.
Benipayo said PP 1017 did not confer the President any special powers, but that it served only as a reminder for the police and the military to do its duty in the light of a “brewing attempt” to topple her administration. He added that the President did not commit grave abuse of discretion when she issued PP 1017 and should not be blamed for the unlawful application of the law.
“The President did alert the military and the police to suppress lawless violence, but they knew what is legal and illegal because that is their constitutional duty. If any irregularity has been committed, that has not been ordered by Proclamation 1017,” he told the court during the nine-hour hearing.
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