Poll exec: Arroyo cannot appoint new SC chief within election period

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo cannot appoint a new Supreme Court chief justice to replace Reynato Puno as his retirement date falls within the election period, a Commission on Elections official said Monday. Comelec legal department chief Ferdinand Rafanan said that the 1987 Constitution allows the President to make only temporary appointments to executive positions during the election period. "Ah, hindi siya pwede palitan. Premature naman na pumili ka ng kapalit nang di pa nakaka-retire (No, the President cannot appoint Puno's replacement. It will be premature to choose a successor for the Chief Justice before he retires)," Rafanan said in an interview on dzBB radio. Puno will turn 70 on May 17, which is within the election period that starts 60 days before Election Day. Under Section 11, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, all members of the Supreme Court and and judges of lower courts shall hold office during good behavior until they reach the age of seventy years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office.

Under Article VII, Section 15 of the Constitution, "Two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety." "Ang appointing authority ang presidente. May power ang presidente mag-appoint hanggang March 9, or 60 days before Election Day (The president is the appointing power. He or she has the power to make appointments up to March 9, or 60 days before Election Day)," Rafanan added. On the other hand, Malacañang officials insisted that President Arroyo can still appoint the next Chief Justice, and is duty-bound to do so to prevent a hiatus or vacuum in the judiciary. On Sunday, Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and presidential political adviser Prospero Pichay Jr. went on government radio to repeatedly make this claim. Pichay acknowledged that Article VII Sec. 15 limits a President from making appointments, and that the prohibition applies to the Executive Department, not the Supreme Court. He also cited the "exemption" allowing temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice or endanger public safety. But he also cited Article VIII Section 4 of the Constitution stating that "any vacancy shall be filled within ninety days from the occurrence thereof." On Friday, Senator Francis Pangilinan called on President Arroyo to just let the next president appoint the replacement of Puno, claiming he had been been informed by his sources in the judiciary that Malacañang wants to appoint a new Chief Justice within the election period. [See: Kiko to PGMA: Let next president name next SC chief] - LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV