The composition of the 15-man Philippine Supreme Court is complete, once again.
Pres. Gloria Arroyo recently appointed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Jose C. Mendoza as the 168th magistrate of the High Court. A 1971 graduate of the San Beda College of Law, the 62-year-old magistrate’s appointment to the SC completes the roster of 15-member tribunal and caps more than two decades of public service as a member of the Bench.
Pres. Arroyo, whose term ends on June 30 this year, is now well protected from future criminal and civil actions grounded on massive and earth-shaking graft and corruption, human rights violations, extrajudicial killings and disappearances, and other grave and scandalous violations of existing laws that have hounded her nightmarish regime since her revolutionary assumption to presidential power as a result of EDSA II in 2001.
Fourteen (14) out the 15 justices of the Supreme Court are Arroyo appointees.
The incumbent (and independent-minded) Chief Justice, Hon. Reynato Puno, who is an appointee of former Pres. Fidel Ramos, will retire in May this year.
It might be possible that the next chief justice would still be appointed by Pres. Arroyo before she ends her term on June 30 this year, depending on how fact the Judicial and Bar Council would move. (If that is so, it would give real sense to the devastating description of the current Supreme Court as the “Arroyo Court”).
The incumbent Ombudsman, Merceditas Gutierrez, whose term of office is questionable, is a former presidential legal counsel of Pres. Arroyo and a law classmate of Arroyo’s controversial husband, Atty. Mike Arroyo.
The Filipinos clearly read Pres. Arroyo’s plans.
She will run as a congresswoman in the province of Pampanga in the general elections this coming May. She has announced it.
Once in Congress in July this year, she will move heaven and earth to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Using her well-entrenched power network and multi-billion campaign funds, she will use both persuasion and threat to revise the 1987 Philippine Constitution to effect a radical change of the governmental system of the Philippines from presidential system to parliamentary system (unitary congress).
By hook or by crook, she must be the next Prime Minister under the new parliamentary system to insure her return to Malacanang Palace between 2011 to 2013.
For the rest of her physical and political lifespan, her goal is to continue to preserve and protect her “immunity from suit” as head of state and/or as head of government and to maintain herself in power for as long as her health can absorb and allow, while insuring the total growth of the Macapagal-Arroyo family dynasty and the stability of the local family dynasties of the feudal warlords in the rural areas whose violent and corrupt power structures are indispensable to her perpetual stay in the Palace.
Power is addictive.
Unfortunately, Pres. Arroyo misses one gem of wisdom: Impermanence is a basic law of nature.
In Pali Buddhism, it is called “anicca” (the law of impermanence).
A sentient being who craves for, clings to, and attaches to anything impermanent (all phenomena and all reality are impermanent), will surely suffer, for she would be incapable of attaining wisdom and enlightenment and realizing the ultimate truth.
Like all phenomena, power is temporary and impermanent. It arises and passes away.
More details on Justice Mendoza (from the Supreme Court website news):
CA Justice Mendoza Completes 15-Member SC Tribunal
Posted: January 5, 2009
By Anna Katrina M. Martinez
The 15-member roster of the highest court of the land is once again complete following the appointment by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of Court of Appeals Associate Justice Jose C. Mendoza as the 168th magistrate of the Supreme Court yesterday, January 4. Justice Mendoza replaced former Associate Justice Minita V. Chico-Nazario who retired on December 5, 2009.
A native of Lipa City, Justice Mendoza, 62, earned his law degree from the San Beda College of Law. After passing the 1971 Bar Examinations, he engaged in private practice and served as Legal Officer of groups such as the Philippine Banking Corporation, the Manila Electric Co., and the Gokongwei Group of Companies before joining the Judiciary as Research Attorney in the CA in 1977. From 1980 to 1985, he worked as an Associate of the Alampay Alvero Alampay Law Office before rejoining the Judiciary in 1985 as Confidential Attorney in the Supreme Court, first in the Office of Justice Nestor B. Alampay and then, in that of Justice Abdulwahid A. Bidin.
Justice Mendoza became a member of the Bench when he was appointed Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Sta. Cruz, Laguna, Br. 26 in 1989. In 1992, he was named Executive Judge of the RTC of Sta. Cruz, Laguna. From 1994 to 2003, he served as Presiding Judge and, later, as Executive Judge of the RTC of Quezon City. In July 4, 2003, he was appointed as Associate Justice of the CA.
A 1971 graduate of the San Beda College of Law, Justice Mendoza is married to the former Livia Rojas, with whom he has a son, Barleon Rojas Mendoza.
See:
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/news/courtnews%20flash/2010/01/01051001.php
With Due Respect
How Arroyo can prolong her stay
By Artemio V. Panganiban
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:25:00 01/30/2010
How “no proc” can happen.
Let me grant, for the sake of argument, Comelec’s bravado that no “nationwide” automation failure would happen. Nonetheless, Comelec admitted during the congressional hearing last Jan. 27 that there may be automation problems in about 30 percent of the country. This is what worries me: problems and missteps—whether intended or not—in several towns and cities which, when put together, can legally trigger a failure of proclamation (no proc) for president, vice president and senators.
Consider this. The latest poll surveys indicate that the presidential race is getting tighter. Manny Villar appears to be closing the wide gap jump-started by Noynoy Aquino. Without predicting who will win, let us assume that the margin of the winning candidate would not exceed 10 percent of the votes cast. Since Comelec estimates that 40 million (out of the 47 million registered voters) would actually cast their ballots, the winning margin would not exceed four million (10 percent of 40 million), still a veritable “landslide.”
Glitches in 15 percent (not to say 30 percent) of the country would result in no-proc for the presidential race since 15 percent of the total votes cast (six million) would not be counted. Legally, when the unaccounted votes are determinative of victory, no one would be proclaimed winner, because these unaccounted votes could overhaul the lead of the front-runner. So, there would be no-proc for national offices, especially for the presidency.
How Arroyo can stay.
On the other hand, there being no similar problems in 85 percent of the country, the local winners in these areas (governors, mayors, congressmen, including putative Rep. Gloria M. Arroyo) would be proclaimed. Hence, the House of Representatives could thereafter convene and elect its speaker.
Without a duly-proclaimed president come June 30, 2010, who would run the country considering that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Prospero Nograles would all end their terms of office on that date? Answer: Arroyo can claim to be “holdover” president.
Once elected speaker, she could then continue her reign as “acting” president, per the succession prescribed by the Constitution.
Can the Senate elect a new president after Juan Ponce Enrile’s term ends on June 30, 2010? No, the 12 remaining senators whose terms would end in 2013 will not constitute a quorum to do business. On the other hand, the new replacements would also suffer the “no-proc” syndrome.
In sum, a failed election in 15 percent of the country would give Arroyo the opportunity to become a holdover president, and then an acting president. These events could be dovetailed by a Cha-cha (sans a functioning Senate) installing a parliamentary government that would elect her as prime minister. All these grim scenarios will surely be elevated to the Supreme Court. This explains why, sadly, political maneuverings abound in the selection of the new chief justice.
What are the alternatives to these scenarios? Martial law? Military takeover? People power? Civil strife? All these? Heaven help our country.
See:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20100130-250395/How-Arroyo-can-prolong-her-stay
