Malacanang is maliciously raising unfounded fears of a possible vacuum in the leadership of the Supreme Court when Chief Justice Reynato Puno retires in May. Existing laws provide for a smooth succession to the post.
Contrary to the claim of Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor Jr. and Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello, Puno’s retirement on May 17, 2010 will not create a vacancy in the position of the SC Chief Justice because the Judiciary Act (Republic Act 296, as amended) provides for a process of succession in the event of a vacancy.
Section 12 of the Judiciary Act states: “In case of a vacancy in the office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or of his inability to perform the duties and powers of his office, they shall devolve upon the Associate Justice who is first in precedence, until such disability is removed, or another Chief Justice is appointed and duly qualified. This provision shall apply to every Associate Justice who succeeds to the Office of the Chief Justice.”
In that provision, the “associate justice who is first in precedence” refers to the most senior associate justice who shall succeed as acting chief justice “in case of a vacancy in the office of the Chief Justice.”
Malacanang, through its allies Defensor and Bello, are trying to deliberately mislead the JBC and maliciously raising unfounded fears of a possible vacuum in the leadership of the Supreme Court just so that President Arroyo can appoint her choice magistrate to be the next chief justice of the Supreme Court despite a clear prohibition contained in the Constitution.
Defensor, the House of Representatives ex-officio member in the JBC, had urged his colleagues in the council to fast-track the nomination process of the next chief justice so that President Arroyo can appoint a chief justice-in-waiting even before Puno’s retirement. He claimed that the country cannot afford a vacancy in the position of SC chief justice “even for a day.”
Congressman Defensor knows that there are no public interests involved in his insistence that President Arroyo appoint Chief Justice Puno’s successor, notwithstanding a clear constitutional ban against midnight appointments.
What is obviously at stake here is only President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s personal interest in undermining the independence of the judiciary in blatant disregard of the rule of law.
President Arroyo cannot appoint a new Supreme Court chief justice to replace Puno as his retirement date falls within the election period when midnight appointments, both in the executive department and the judiciary, are prohibited. Other independent legal luminaries share the same thought.
The President’s allies were again giving her wrong legal advice and was setting her up for another act that would clearly violate the 1987 Constitution.
Puno will retire on May 17, after the country shall have elected a new president and 45 days before the constitutionally mandated transfer of power from President Arroyo to her successor on June 30.
I have expressed confidence that the members of the JBC would resist any effort by Malacañang to illegally fast-track the nomination of Puno’s successor.
I trust that the majority members of the JBC will uphold the rule of law and assert the independence of the council by rejecting Malacañang’s request to begin the nomination process for the next Supreme Court Chief Justice even before Chief Justice Puno can retire.
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