Can GMA still appoint SC chief?

Source: Manila Bulletin
15-member High Court meets to decide on the issue this Wednesday
By EDMER F. PANESA
March 16, 2010, 6:39pm

Is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo still allowed to appoint the successor of Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno despite the constitutional ban on midnight appointments?

This will be known this Wednesday when the 15-member High Court hold a special full court session to decide various petitions seeking either to allow or prevent President Arroyo from naming the country’s next highest court official.

“The Supreme Court has decided to call a special en banc session at 9 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) wherein they intend to resolve and vote on the issue,” Court Administrator and SC Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez told a press conference.

He said the SC was supposed to decide on the matter during its regular session Tuesday but there were justices who have yet to submit their respective opinions.

“Last week, they (justices) have agreed that the deadline for (submission of) opinions was yesterday (Monday) but there were still opinions coming in. We expect that all opinions will be in by this afternoon (Tuesday),” Marquez explained.

He added: “That was the agreement this morning (Tuesday) so I think most probably there will be a decision by tomorrow (Wednesday).”

Marquez said Chief Justice Puno has decided to postpone his leave so he can preside over Wednesday’s session.

The Chief Justice was supposed to start his two-week “wellness and sabbatical leave” this Wednesday but he had to postpone it until tomorrow because of the special session, Marquez said.

Puno is scheduled to retire on May 17 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

The SC has been asked in a petition by lawyer Arturo De Castro to compel the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to submit to President Arroyo Puno.

However, the De Castro petition has met strong opposition from various individuals and groups arguing for the constitutional ban on midnight appointments.

Section 15, Article VII of the Constitution expressly prohibits the President from making midnight appointments two months immediately preceding the May 10 elections and until her term expires. This period covers Puno’s retirement date.

As ex-officio chairman of JBC, Puno said he will not take part in the SC’s decision involving the appointment of his successor.

The JBC has already started the selection process for the next Chief Justice, but decided to defer to the SC on whether or not it could still submit its shortlist of nominees to the incumbent President.

The eight-member constitutional body recently concluded soliciting public comments on the six candidates for Chief Justice, namely: SC Associate Justices Carpio, Corona, Conchita Carpio Morales, Teresita Leonardo De Castro and Arturo Brion, and Sandiganbayan Senior Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval.

In the De Castro petition, the petitioner argued that President Arroyo has the power and authority to appoint the country’s next chief magistrate.

De Castro said the election ban does not apply to appointments to the judiciary and that the designation of a Chief Justice during the ban is justified by paramount public interest.

He also warned of a “high risk” that a temporary Chief Justice may play politics, hence endangering the stability of the judicial system and the nation’s political situation.