Marcelo group loses bid vs Corona appointment

The Supreme Court has virtually ended the controversy surrounding the appointment of Chief Justice Renato Corona when it denied the bid of the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) to file a second motion for reconsideration regarding the court’s March 17 ruling. “The motion of the PBA for leave to file a second motion has been denied, being a prohibited pleading. The denial of the motion is based on the same grounds that the main case was decided," Court spokesman and administration Jose Midas Marquez said Tuesday. The decision was reached at the resumption of the court’s session that was presided by Corona, who the PBA said was illegally appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, citing the supposed constitutional ban on appointments during the election period. Section 15, Article 7 of the Constitution prohibits the incumbent President from making any “midnight appointments" two months before the elections until the end of his term on June 30. Corona took over the chief justice position last May 17 or seven days after the national and local automated elections. He replaced Reynato Puno who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 on that date. Marquez said the magistrates maintained their 9-1-2 voting on the case during Tuesday’s deliberations, where nine of the justices voted that the Supreme Court is exempt from the coverage of the constitutional prohibition on appointments during the election period. One justice dissented while the two voted that the case is premature. The March 17 decision was affirmed by the high court on April 20 when it junked motions for reconsideration filed by several parties, including PBA, a group of lawyers led by former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo. Marcelo belongs to the Villaraza, Cruz, Marcelo and Angangco law offices, more popularly known as “The Firm," of which Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio is one of the founding partners. Carpio was Corona’s closest rival to the top judicial post, but the former declined his nomination based on his position that it should be the next President, and not President Arroyo, who should appoint the next chief justice. - KBK, GMANews.TV