Lawyers, law students join groups vs Arroyo's appointment of new chief justice

Lawyers and law students on Monday joined militant groups that marched to the Supreme Court in Manila to denounce President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s possible appointment of a new chief justice. The solidarity march — titled Hukuman, Ipaglaban. Midnight CJ, 'Wag Payagan — also sought to prevent the Judicial and Bar Council from submitting to President Arroyo a shortlist of nominees who are expected to replace outgoing chief magistrate Reynato Puno, who will retire on May 17. The JBC is the constitutionally-created body which vets, screens, and nominates to the President appointees to vacant judicial posts. Mrs. Arroyo could only name Puno’s replacement when the council submits a list of nominees. Under Section 15, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, the incumbent president is barred from making any appointments two months before a presidential election until the time he or she bows out of office. In this case, Mrs. Arroyo is disallowed from making any appointments from March 11 to June 30. Puno’s retirement on May 17 falls within the restricted period. In a manifesto submitted before the court and to the JBC, the groups said “the bastard appointment of a midnight Chief Justice is an attempt by [Mrs. Arroyo] to extend her power and influence over institutions of government beyond her term of office, to the prejudice of this nation and the Judiciary in particular." “We call on the JBC to stand its ground against the executive’s arm-twisting," said Akbayan chair emeritus and former representative Loretta Rosales at a press conference. Malacañang had repeatedly argued there was nothing anomalous with Mrs. Arroyo’s appointment of a new chief magistrate. Her spokespersons had likewise insisted that the President has the prerogative of picking Puno's successor. The groups that took part in the march include several chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, party-list groups Akbayan and Bayan Muna, the Association of Law Students of the Philippines, the Alternative Law Groups, the Supreme Courts Appointments Watch, and the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL). Also on Monday, the IBP’s Eastern Visayas and Southern Luzon chapters also filed a petition asking the court to issue a writ of prohibition to prevent the JBC from “submitting a list of nominees for the position of chief justice to the President for appointment during the period prohibited. Monday’s activities coincided with the last JBC meeting before the ban on midnight appointments takes effect on March 11. It also coincided with the day before the Supreme Court deliberates on whether to conduct oral arguments regarding the four petitions favoring the appointment of a new chief justice by Mrs. Arroyo.

The IBP’s two chapters were the third party to make a similar request to the high court. Last week, Akbayan and NUPL asked the court to junk four separate petitions favoring Mrs. Arroyo’s prerogative to make a so-called midnight appointment. The four petitioners in favor of a new appointment were the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) and lawyers Jaime Soriano, Arturo de Castro, and former solicitor general Estelito Mendoza. A duly appointed Chief Justice is necessary in order to resolve election-related cases that may erupt in connection with the May 10 polls, they argued. But Akbayan and NUPL dismissed this argument as baseless. Carpio versus Corona In a separate interview with reporters, IBP Eastern Visayas governor Ronald Inting denied they were against the imminent appointment of Associate Justice Renato Corona as Puno’s successor. Corona is supposedly being groomed by the administration to be the next chief magistrate. Corona had earlier accepted the JBC’s nomination, in contrast with Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who said he was willing to be picked as Puno’s replacement but on the condition that the next President would do the appointment. Talks had been rife that President Arroyo would pick Corona, her perceived ally, instead of Carpio, who is more senior than Corona. A check on previous Supreme Court rulings on controversial cases involving the Arroyo administration would show that Corona voted in favor of the administration while Carpio voted against it. Carpio was one of the founding partners of the prominent Carpio, Cruz and Villaraza Law Firm — also known as “The Firm" — which used to have close ties with President Arroyo. Other co-founders include former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz and Arthur Villaraza. “The Firm" supposedly had a falling out with President Arroyo after the “Hello, Garci" controversy broke out in 2005. Cruz and “The Firm" member, former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo, resigned from the Arroyo administration in 2005 and 2006, respectively. - GMANews.TV