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‘SC decision on chief justice issue to mar economy, practice of law’


The Supreme Court’s (SC) decision allowing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to appoint the next chief justice may have ill effects on the economy, and even in the practice of law in country, professors from the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law said Friday. UP Law Dean Marvic Leonen said that the high court’s move might drive investors away from the country because of lack of trust in the judiciary. “When will be the next time when they [SC justices] will read a provision in the Constitution that we will not be able to trust? I think it will worry investors. If I will put in millions of dollars in your economy, have capital outlays and make (them) permanent, how sure am I that laws will be read in the correct way by the Supreme Court?" he said in a forum in UP Diliman in Quezon City. Leonen added that the high court “breached the line" between politics and judicial interpretation in its decision on the chief justice issue. “I think we have transgressed a line of interpretation… There is already consensus in our community that the Supreme Court has already gone overboard, and therefore, reflecting on political decisions rather than interpretation of the data," he said. The UP Law dean likewise said that the SC decision, which he said had “strange" arguments, can also undermine the practice of law in the Philippines. “Do we tell our students to just look at who the justices are and their interest rather than how they think and how they interpret the rules?" he said. “I look at this from a very self-interested point of view… The role of a lawyer is to predict what the SC will do given a precedent. Here, there is a precedent where reasoned action is thrown out of the window with such kind of reasoning," he added. At the end of his speech, Leonen warned of possible ill effects of the SC decision on the country’s peace and order situation, saying it might even lead to bloodshed in the long run. “In a basketball game or a football game, if the referee does not referee correctly, a brawl will happen. If the Supreme Court cannot be a respected arbiter, God help us. Then it will be truly the revolution that many of the revolutionaries have imagined. Blood will shed in the streets," he said. “This is an administration where a lot of our provisions have been tested. They are pushed in terms of interpretation regardless of social and political consequences or for political reasons… Therefore, there can be some reality in doomsday scenarios that are being said," he added. The high court on Wednesday allowed the President to pick the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who is scheduled to retire on May 17—a week after the May 10 national elections. (See: Supreme Court allows Arroyo to appoint next chief justice) In its decision, the SC said Section 15 Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, which bars the incumbent president from making appointments two months before an election and until his or her term expires, only covers the executive branch and not the judiciary. ’An insurance policy’ Former UP Law Dean Raul Pangalangan meanwhile said that President Arroyo would just be implementing an “insurance policy" should she appoint the next chief justice. Pangalangan said Mrs. Arroyo may just want the high court, which has the final say on cases, to be in her favor in case she is prosecuted after her term. “There is this backdrop of fear of this President of all debts she has to pay. She might be facing litigation when her term is over and she loses her immunity," he said in the same forum. Pangalanan added that the attempt to appoint Puno’s successor within her term is just part of the President’s move to “extend her influence" beyond her term. “One thing very clear is that this is an outgoing president wanting to extend the reach of her power and influence beyond June 30, 2010. She aims to do it by appointing as part of her legacy a Chief Justice," he said. UP constitutional law professor Florin Hilbay, for his part, said that the SC decision on the chief justice issue may also be part of the administration’s ploy to influence the results of the upcoming polls. “The next chief justice will actually outlast the next President… The next chief justice will also be the chief of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. If something happens in these elections, the appointed chief justice will be the one manning the post," he said.—JV, GMANews.TV

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