Many Filipino lawyers, law students, and law NGO leaders support the legal stand of well-meaning jurists and citizens that Pres. Gloria Arroyo should wait for the next president to appoint the next Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court, pursuant to existing Philippine jurisprudence and the relevant constitutional provisions on the matter.
This is the very same position that I have repeatedly discussed in my previous articles in this blog.
Filipino lawyers yesterday held a peaceful mass protest rally in front of the Supreme Court to make known their position on the above-mentioned issue.
A petition is now pending before the Court filed by pro-Pres. Arroyo personalities urging the Court to declare that Pres. Arroyo has the constitutional power to appoint the next chief justice upon the mandatory retirement of incumbent Chief Justice Reynato Puno on May 17, 2010, or one (1) months before the general elections on May 10, 2010, notwithstanding the election ban on all appointments during an election period.
The basis of the politically-motivated and pro-Arroyo petition is an apparent vagueness and contradiction in the relevant provisions of Art. VII (Executive) (and Art. VIII (Judiciary) of the 1987 Constitution.
Hardheaded and unreasonable as she is, not being an enlightened member of the Bar, I expect Pres. Gloria Arroyo to rush ahead like a raging bull, exploit the aforecited vagueness in the statutory construction of Article VII (Executive) and Article VIII (Judiciary) of the 1987 Constitution, and forthwith shamelessly appoint the next chief justice, despite all the mass protests and rallies of the Filipino intelligentsia.
It is one of the most effective ways she can continue to control the politicized justice system of the country as part of her evil strategy to perpetuate herself in power beyond the end of her illegitimate and dysfunctional term this coming May, thus, insulating her and her whole family and their cronies from sure criminal and civil cases on the basis of the gross and scandalous corruptions, abuses, dishonesty, misconducts, and human rights violations that have patently characterized her much-maligned term of office.
Read the related news item below.
Take stand on chief justice appointment, Puno urged
By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 11:41:00 03/08/2010
MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) Hundreds of lawyers and law students on Monday called on Chief Justice Reynato Puno to defend the law and take a stand on the controversy hounding the appointment of his successor.
”We hereby call upon Chief Justice Puno to shake off his indifference and finally exercise his constitutional duty to defend the Fundamental Law, make an honorable stand, and uphold the strong moral leadership he has always espoused at the time when it is needed most,” they said in a manifesto submitted to the Supreme Court.
Earlier in the day, the groups, including several chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), Alternative Law Groups, Association of Law Students of the Philippines (ALSP), Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO), party-list groups Akbayan and Bayan, and law school organizations massed up in front of the high tribunal to protest President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s possible appointment of the next chief justice.
The groups said the President’s attempt to appoint the next chief justice is another strategy to extend her influence over government institutions after her stint in Malacañang.
“We condemn President Arroyo’s shameless abuse of power, blatant violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution, breach of the public trust, and disrespect for the independence and integrity of the judiciary,” they said.
They added they will not allow the Arroyo government to transform the judiciary into a “political playground,” and will be “steadfast in defending the integrity and independence of the judiciary against any and all attempts to ravage the same by unconstitutional means.”
The groups urged aspirants to the chief justice position to forego their personal ambitions and “resist blandishments of power” by refusing Arroyo’s “unlawful” appointment.
They reiterated that Section 15, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution prohibits the President from making an appointment two months before the Presidential election up to June 30 or the end of her term.
While the provision did not mention that the judiciary is included in the prohibition, lawyer Roland Inting from the IBP Eastern Visayas Chapter said there is also no other law stating that the judiciary is not included in the appointment ban.
He added that even if the provision is under Article VII referring to the executive branch of the government, Inting pointed that the Constitution should be read as a whole, thus the provision does not apply only to the executive branch.
The IBP Eastern Visayas chapter also filed a petition for prohibition with the Supreme Court to prevent the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) from submitting a list of nominees for the chief justice position to President Arroyo during the appointment ban which will start on March 10.
See:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100308-257392/Take-stand-on-chief-justice-appointment-Puno-urged
