Senator Joker Arroyo, on the other hand, declared that the President is out of bounds. He added that the President's proclamation with finality that the constitution permits US military forces to do combat against the Abus is dangerous.

The danger, like in quackery, resides in the President's absolute belief of a solution being scientifically based when in fact a lot of other practitioners believe otherwise.

According to Stephen Barrett, vice-president of the National Council Against Health Fraud, a promoter of quackery sincerely believes in what he or she is doing and deliberate deception is not necessarily involved. Hence, while the question of constitutionality rests upon the decision of the Supreme Court, Macapagal-Arroyo is promoting an unapproved solution to an illness.

The Civil Society as consumers tends to be divided in their response to the President's solution. A coalition of 39 groups tentatively named "Gathering for Peace" has been formed to launch a series of protest action against the coming of the US troops in Basilan, while Social Weather Stations statistics say that 80 percent of the respondents in late 2000 favored it because they trust the US military.

However, the SWS findings do not prove anything. The issue is not whether the US military forces could crash the Abus or not but the constitutionality of the matter.

When the President could bypass the highest law of the land believing in a power that the Constitution does not mandate where does our constitutional rights stand?

In a case where the President could be infringing the wisdom of the Constitution, the Filipinos could be misled in a game of judicial quackery.