HENARES, CHAVES DECLINE CJ NOMINATION / ERAP GIVES NOY
PASSING GRADE
[PHOTO - Bureau of Internal
Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares. INQUIRER FILE
PHOTO]
MANILA, JULY 3, 2012 (INQUIRER) By
Tetch Torres - Malacañang's purported favorite bet for Chief Justice,
Bureau of Internal Commission (BIR) chief Kim Jacinto-Henares, and former
Solicitor-General Francisco Chavez have bowed out of the race.
In explaining her decision to decline the nomination for the top Supreme
Court post, Henares said reforms at the BIR "is as significant as that of
judicial reform."
Meanwhile, Chavez backed out of the derby as he questioned the composition of
the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
While tax efficiency has increased after posting a double digit growth since
2010, Henares said much revenue was still needed.
She said that in 2011, the BIR was able to collect P924 billion and is
expected to collect P1.066 trillion and P1.2 trillion in 2012 and 2013,
respectively.
Important BIR reforms
"I feel that at this time, the reform we are undertaking in the BIR is as
significant as the judicial reform that needs to be undertaken in the Supreme
Court," Henares said in a statement on Monday.
"In as much as revenues are needed by the Government to sustain economic
progress, it is important to sustain the reforms we are undertaking in the BIR
as these changes provide the backbone for reforms in the BIR, and are among the
major milestones to be achieved to prepare the revenue agency for the future,"
she said.
"Although I am honored by the faith and confidence reposed upon me by the
people who nominated me to the Chief Justice position, I regret I could not
accept the nomination," the BIR chief added.
At present, Henares said the BIR was in the midst of crucial reforms.
Among the reforms Henares cited include the evaluation of the various core
processes, such as those of registration, filing and payment, auditing and
collection which are nearing completion.
In addition, Henares said they are enhancing the Information Taxpayer
Systems, built during the 1990s, with the assistance of the grant from the
Compact Program of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
"These major efforts are being undertaken to enable us to meet the
ever-increasing challenge of reaching revenue collection targets given to us
annually. The government's tax collection efforts provide the government with
the funds needed to spur economic development and fund social programs to ensure
that the benefit of economic growth will trickle down to the less fortunate
members of our society," Henares said.
JBC is unconstitutional
[PHOTO -Francisco Chavez. INQUIRER FILE
PHOTO]
Chavez has asked the Supreme Court to stop current selection for the next
chief justice and declare as unconstitutional the composition of the JBC.
"I am not seeking the position. What is important to me is the law, the rule
of law and the Constitution which should be over and above anything else, over
and above everyone else including myself," Chavez told reporters.
"I cannot submit myself to the jurisdiction and proceedings of the body whose
composition is unconstitutional," Chavez said.
Chavez, in his petition, asked the high court to issue a temporary
restraining order to stop the JBC from further functioning.
The JBC is constitutionally mandated to screen aspirants for the Judiciary
and the Office of the Ombudsman. Then, they submit a short list of nominees to
the President who then will make the appointment.
Chavez said the current JBC composition violates the 1987 Constitution with
two representatives from Congress, namely: Sen. Francis Escudero (chairman,
Senate Committee on Justice) and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, Jr. (chairman, House of
Representatives Justice Committee).
Chavez pointed out that the composition of the JBC, the body tasked to screen
applicants and nominees for judicial posts and the post of Ombudsman and Deputy
Ombudsmen, should only be 7, not 8.
He stressed that the phrase "a representative of the Congress" used by the
Constitution in Sec. 8, Art. VIII is "all to clear" to mean only one JBC member
should come from the legislature.
State of chaos
"The said JBC is now in the process of preparing the final list of possible
appointee for the position of Chief Justice.
However, if the composition of constitutional body that screens their
appointment is illegal and unconstitutional—then the appointment of the Chief
Justice will be tainted with unconstitutionality," Chavez said in his petition.
"This will affect not only the Supreme Court but the entire judicial system,
which will definitely be in a state of utter chaos," Chavez added.
Currently, the JBC is composed of:
1. Senior Associate Justice Antonio
Carpio (in place of the Chief Justice),
2. Justice Sec. Leila De Lima,
3. Sen Francis Escudero,
4. Rep Niel Tupas,
5. Justice Regino
Hermosisima (representing retired justices of the Supreme Court),
6. retired
Court of Appeals Justice Aurora Lagman (private sector),
7. Atty. Milagros
Fernan-Cayosa (Integrated Bar of the Philippines),
8. Atty. Jose Mejia
(academe),
9. SC Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, Jr. (consultant),
10. SC Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro (consultant),
11.
and SC Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez (consultant).
Constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas last week said that following the
provision of the Constitution, the JBC members should be composed of seven only
with one representative from Congress. But he admitted that it has been a
practice that there are two representatives from Congress who have half a vote
each or take turns in voting.
But recent JBC members from Congress have one vote each as confirmed by
Tupas.
FROM MANILA STANDARD TODAY
Erap gives PNoy passing mark By Sara Fabunan |
Posted on June 30, 2012 | 9:45pm | 25 Comments
Former President Joseph Estrada (photo) gave President Benigno
Aquino III a passing grade of "seven to eight" in his second year as Chief
Executive.
Estrada said from a scale of one to ten, where ten is the highest, President
Aquino earned a grade of seven to eight, due to his (Aquino) "firm stand against
corruption."
"So far so good. Passing grade," Estrada told the Manila Standard Today in an
interview.
Estrada said that he was pleased with Aquino's resolve to remove from office
former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Twenty senators, including Estrada's son, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, voted to
convict Corona for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the
Constitution.
The impeachment court ruled that the chief magistrate was guilty of Article
II of the impeachment complaint where he failed to disclose his statement of
assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Estrada also lauded the strategy of the Aquino administration in collating
evidences against former President and Pampanga Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo who is currently detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
Arroyo is facing an electoral sabotage case for orchestrating alleged massive
cheating during the 2007 midterm elections in Maguindanao.
Apart from Arroyo, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) also filed a case
against former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, former Maguindanao governor
Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr., former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol,
and former Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP)
operative Capt. Peter Reyes.
Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte, meanwhile, said the Aquino
administration's biggest achievement was changing the mindset of the public.
"What is the biggest achievement so far, it's the change in mindset of the
people, of our people. The people are now more open with the reforms that are
being undertaken by the government. They are now more engaged with the
government," Valte said over state-run dzRB radio.
"While much has been achieved, much remains to be done. The Aquino
administration continues to build on the momentum we have already gained. With
everyone's commitment, we are sure to lengthen our strides along the straight
and righteous path. The message remains the same: honest and accountable
governance is the anvil upon which our people can forge better futures for
themselves," Valte said.
The Manila Standard Today tried to contact former president Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo but was prevented by the tight security at the VMMC.
Arroyo, though, had made plain her sentiment when she was interviewed early
this year.
She had said that the Philippines is now a "weak state" with an allegedly
absentee President observing a "nobody-home leadership".
Arroyo also claimed that the Aquino Cabinet had met only four times last
year.
"The gains achieved by the previous administrations—mine included—are being
squandered in an obsessive pursuit of political warfare meant to blacken the
past and conceal the dark corners of the present dispensation. Rather than
building on our nation's achievements, this regime has extolled itself as the
sole harbinger of all that is good," she said.
Arroyo also said that Aquino had no "will and the skill to properly navigate
such uncertain waters" citing that various crises that the administration has
confronted, such as the Luneta hostage situation early in the year, and its
failure to rescue Filipino drug mules from death row in China.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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