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SC defends decision to reinstate Arroyo 'midnight appointee'


The Supreme Court has defended from Malacañang its move to order the reinstatement of an alleged midnight appointee of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo — National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) commissioner and secretary Bai Omera Dianalan-Lucman. Reacting to the criticism of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, the court said the resolution on Lucman's petition was an isolated decision and cannot be deemed a blanket resolution on the nearly one thousand so-called midnight appointees. "The status quo ante order was issued after a judicious review of the circumstances of the Lucman case. The fact that it covers only the Lucman petition shows that it is a class of its own and it cannot be invoked as a blanket remedy for all the so-called midnight appointees," said SC spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Marquez. The high tribunal also reminded the chief executive of the Supreme Court's authority to exercise its constitutionally-mandated power of judicial review. "Judicial review, which includes the power to issue temporary restraining orders and status quo ante orders, is not a privilege but a duty, imposed by the Constitution on the Court. It cannot shirk this duty," said Marquez. He added that the court does not cater to anybody's interests but only to the Rule of Law. "Rest assured that we have a Supreme Court which is not governed by passing emotions and daily polls, but by the Rule of Law, serving not the special interest of the few, but the best interest of all, committed not to self-preservation of those great constitutional principles bequeathed by history," added Marquez. –VVP, GMANews.TV

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