Newsbreak: Palace commits blunder in naming Ong to Supreme Court

Newsbreak: Gregory Ong, newly appointed Supreme Court justice, may not be a natural-born citizen, Newsbreak learned from legal sources privy to Ong's records. This means that Ong, who is at present associate justice of the Sandiganbayan, is not qualified to sit in the high court or even in the Sandiganbayan. The rules of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) cite a constitutional provision that provides that any appointee to the Supreme Court should be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. The same provision also requires that a Sandiganbayan justice be a natural-born Filipino. If Ong fails to produce proof of his being a natural-born Filipino, he will be forced to leave the anti-graft court as well. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye himself announced today that the Palace has withheld Ong's appointment to the high court and has asked him to show proof of his citizenship. Ong's birth certificate, these sources say, show his father and mother to be Chinese. Ong was born in 1953 and his father was naturalized only in 1964. A separate source from the JBC secretariat said that Ong indicated in his application for Supreme Court justice that he is a natural-born citizen. This is Ong's second time to apply with the Supreme Court. "We assume that what the candidates indicate is true and correct. As for the citizenship, it is not for us to determine," a source in the JBC said. We made a written request for Ong's application with the JBC but we were told that they would have to take up the matter in an en banc session or by the executive committee. We asked to talk to Ong but his staff said he could not be reached. We gave the question on his citizenship and requested a return call. Former Senator Jovito Salonga, Newsbreak learned, was considering filing a case to stop Ong from assuming his post at the Supreme Court. Ong was appointed Sandiganbayan associate justice by President Joseph Estrada in 1998. Many were surprised by Ong's appointment, including Estrada. "There are justices more senior than him," he told Newsbreak in a telephone interview. Ong is said to be close to President Arroyo's brother, Diosdado "Buboy" Macapagal Jr. The frontrunners for the lone vacancy in the Supreme Court were Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita de Castro and Court of Appeals Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr. who each garnered seven votes from the eight-person JBC. CA Presiding Justice Ruben Reyes ranked second with six votes while Ong, along with four other candidates, came in third with five votes. A source in the judiciary privy to the selection process told Newsbreak that Ong did not get any vote from the Supreme Court, not even from the two justices who are graduates of San Beda College, one of whom was Ong's professor. Ong graduated from San Beda College in 1979. Those who voted for Ong in the JBC were Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Rep. Simeon Datumanong, Regino Hermosisima Jr., Dean Amado Dimayuga, and Justice Raoul Victorino. In May last year, the Supreme Court directed Ong, chairman of the Sandiganbayan's fourth division, to inhibit himself from participating in the criminal cases against former First Lady Imelda Marcos because of doubts on his impartiality. In an 11-page decision penned by Justice Adolfo Azcuna, the Court said that allegations against Ong "cast doubt on his impartiality to decide these very critical cases." -Newsbreak