CARPIO, 3 OTHERS AUTOMATIC NOMINEES FOR CJ POST; COUNCIL MEETS
MONDAY
MANILA, JUNE 1, 2012
(TRIBUNE) Acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Antonio Carpio
(photo) and three other senior officials of the high court are in the
running for the next chief magistrate post following the removal of Chief
Justice Renato Corona's removal by the Senate impeachment court.
Carpio has declined a nomination for the post during the last days of the
Arroyo administration, citing his position that an appointment to the high court
by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was covered by the ban on midnight
appointments.
SC acting spokesman Ma. Victoria Gleoresty Guerra said Carpio, who will also
sit as acting ex-officio chair of the eight-man Judicial and Bar Council (JBC)
tasked to vet nominees to judicial posts, called for the meeting.
"The JBC confirmed that the CJ vacancy is on the agenda for discussion," she
told reporters in an interview.
"The JBC will screen the nominees and then come up with an official shortlist
where the President will handpick the next CJ," she added.
[PHOTOS - LEFT TO RIGHT: Associate Justices Presbitero
Velasco Jr, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo Brion, Diosdado
Peralta]
Guerra also clarified that "outsiders from the judiciary" or those who are
qualified but do not belong to any of the judicial institutions may also be
nominated for Chief Justice.
"There is no prohibition against outsiders as long as they comply with the
constitutional requirements," she stressed.
The last real "outsider" or a lawyer chosen to be Chief Justice not coming
from the ranks of incumbent magistrates of the SC was during Japanese occupation
when the occupation government appointed Jose Yulo as Chief Justice.
Yulo, a member of the Liberal Party, headed the legislative department before
the Philippine government fell.
He succeeded Jose Abad Santos as Chief Justice after the latter was executed
for refusing to collaborate with the enemy.
Guerra said the appointment should be made within 90 days from vacancy of the
top judiciary post last May 22 when the Senate sitting as impeachment court
convicted Corona of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of
public trust.
Aside from Carpio and four other most senior magistrates of the SC –
Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo
Brion and Diosdado Peralta are automatically nominated for the post.
Malacañang, for its part, said President Aquino may take part in the process
of choosing the next chief magistrate when the formal process kicks off.
In a press briefing, deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said there
was no law that prevents the President or any Filipino citizen from taking part
in the selection process and making a choice on whom he sees fit to become the
next Chief Justice for the high tribunal.
"Ideally, yes because it's an open nomination process. So anybody can
nominate. And in the same vein, anybody can make an opposition to the list of
nominees," she added.
The Palace official, however, clarified that it would still be the JBC which
would play a significant role as it is the JBC panel that screens, validates and
makes a final recommendation to the President of the short-listed nominees from
where the appointing authority would be made to choose and appoint.
Asked if the President was open to appointing an outsider to become the next
Chief Justice, Valte said: "That will depend on the shortlist to be
transmitted."
But Malacañang would face a tough task in replacing Corona as a number of
senators who handed down the guilty verdict indicated that they had high
expectations as to the basis of Aquino's appointment of the new chief
magistrate.
For one, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, demanded that the so-called screening
committee's deliberations on who should end up on the President's shortlist
should be open to the public.
Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano openly expressed his opposition to the
idea of picking from among the present crop of "politicians" Corona's
replacement as he felt that it would stir speculations that the image of the SC
was tainted with partisan politics.
"I strongly recommend against (appointing) politicians. There should be a new
new paradigm of transparency and accountability. While there are a number of
good politicians, there may be some who will say I'm in no position to say this
because I'm also a politician, the point is this will give a message to the
public that the next Chief Justice was an ally (of the President)," he said.
"The problem with politicians, we're partisan and people know who are your
allies, your supporters," he added.
Should Aquino name a politician, Cayetano said it cannot but create a doubt
among the public on every decision the appointee will make.
Cayetano saw no problem in the President's choosing from the ranks of his
colleagues such as Senators Francis Escudero and Franklin Drilon as they are
good choices, "but as I said we have to go beyond the individual qualifications
and integrity."
Just as the sessions of both the Senate and the House of Representatives are
open to the public, so, too, should the proceedings of the JBC made public,
Pangilinan said.
"We have seen how critical it is to have a Chief Justice with integrity and
independence. We cannot have a selection process for the next Chief Justice that
is shrouded in secrecy and mystery. If there is any lesson to be learned in the
non-disclosure to the public of the SALns (statement of assets, liability and
net worth) of the justices, it is that it becomes open to abuse. The right of
the people to information on matters of public interest is mandated by the
Constitution. The selection process for all judges and justices begins with the
JBC, hence, the reforms should start there," hesaid.
[PHOTO - Logo of the Supreme Court/JBC]
http://jbc.judiciary.gov.ph/
Public access should not be limited to the deliberations but should be given
to meetings and the voting on the final list of JBC's nominees, the senator
stressed.
Sen. Edgardo Angara agreed with Cayetano that Drilon and Escudero were more
than qualified to replace Corona and that party affiliation is not a ground for
disqualification.
"It's not even a ground for excluding yourself. But you must really choose
the leader of that body with wisdom, uprightness but most of all one who can
look beyond," he said.
Both Angara and Escudero said that in the event that Carpio would be
nominated as "candidate," he should inhibit from the deliberations of the JBC,
of which he is currently the chair, being the acting SC chief.
"According to the JBC, the SC and the law creating JBC, whoever heads the SC
automatically heads the JBC, whether as OIC or acting, he is head. Therefore,
there will be no void in the law. To me, there seems to be no problem.
Otherwise, there will be perpetual paralysis. Walang Chief Justice, walang head
ang JBC then the JBC cannot convene. The JBC cannot nominate the Chief Justice.
But that's just one theory. Whoever heads the SC ipso facto automatically heads
the JBC. Therefore the JBC is going to be operational," he said.
Escudero said if Carpio were going to be a nominee or an applicant, "he would
inhibit himself anyway from participating in the JBC deliberations given that he
is a potential (replacement), if he applies or if he is nomited, if he accepts."
The Constitution requires the Chief Justice to be at least 40 years of age, a
judge in a court of record for at least 15 years or engaged in the practice of
law in the Philippines for the same period and a person of proven competence,
integrity, probity and independence.
After receiving a final list of nominees and applicants, the JBC will solicit
from the public manifestations of support or oppositions to the candidates.
Benjamin B. Pulta, Fernan J. Angeles and Angie M. Rosales
FROM WIKIPEDIA
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines: Incumbent
Antonio Carpio since May 29, 2012 – in acting capacity
Style :
His/Her Honorable
Appointer : Presidential appointment upon nomination by the Judicial
and Bar Council
Term length : Retirement at the age 70
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (Filipino:
Punong Mahistrado ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman ng Pilipinas) presides over the
Supreme Court of the Philippines and is the highest judicial officer of the
government of the Philippines. The position is currently occupied by Acting
Chief Justice Antonio Carpio.
Duties
The power to appoint the Chief Justice lies with the President, who makes the
selection from a list of 3 nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council.
There is no material difference in the process of selecting a Chief Justice
from that in the selection of Associate Justices. As with the other Justices of
the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice is obliged to retire upon reaching the age
of 70, otherwise there is no term limit for the Chief Justice.
The Constitution does not ascribe any formal role to the Chief Justice other
than as an ex-officio Chairman of the Judicial and Bar Council and as the
presiding officer in any impeachment trial of the President.
The Chief Justice is also required to personally certify every decision that
is rendered by the Court.
He or she carries only 1 vote out of 15 in the Court, and is generally
regarded, vis-a-vis the other Justices, as the primus inter pares rather than as
the administrative superior of the other members of the Court.
Still, the influence a Chief Justice may bear within the Court and judiciary,
and on the national government cannot be underestimated.
In the public eye, any particular Supreme Court is widely identified with the
identity of the incumbent Chief Justice, hence appellations such as "The
Concepcion Court", "The Fernando Court", or "The Puno Court". Moreover, the
Chief Justice usually retains high public visibility, unlike the Associate
Justices who tend to labor in relative anonymity, with exceptions such as
Associate Justice J.B.L. Reyes in the 1950s to 1970s.
By tradition, it is also the Chief Justice who swears into office the
President of the Philippines.
One notable deviation from that tradition came in 1986. Due to the
exceptional political circumstances culminating in the People Power Revolution,
on February 25, 1986, Corazon Aquino took her oath of office as President before
then Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee in San Juan just minutes before
Ferdinand Marcos took his own oath of office also as President before Chief
Justice Ramon Aquino. Marcos fled into exile later that night.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
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