Eddiegul: GMA should appoint chief justice

CEBU, Philippines - Despite the legal community’s stand against President Gloria Arroyo’s appointing a new chief justice before her term ends, Cebu First District Rep. Eduardo Gullas believes that the president will and should make the appointment to avoid possible chaos should there be a power vacuum.

Gullas, who is also a lawyer, took a different stand from that of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, on the issue of whether or not Arroyo can appoint the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno who is scheduled to retire on May 17 given the Constitutional ban under Article VII, Section 15.

The said provision states; “Two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President or an Acting President cannot make appointments except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.”

Gullas said that under Section 16 of the same article the president is given the prerogative to appoint.

“My stand is that the president can appoint,” Gullas told reporters.

He even made a hunch that Arroyo will appoint Puno’s successor before her term ends but it is not going to be Associate Justice Bernardo Carpio, the most senior among the justices of the High Tribunal, because of his perceived anti-administration stance.

Carpio is identified with “The Firm”, a law firm previously defending the first family, but is now perceived to be with the opposition.

If the president will also choose from among the 14 associate justices of the Supreme Court as Puno’s replacement, Gullas believes that it does not need to pass through the Judicial and Bar Council anymore since all associate justices passed the JBC before they were appointed.

Gullas cited several reasons why he believes that Arroyo will and must make the appointment. He said among them is the possible chaos if, “God forbid”, considering his age, Puno will die before May 17.

He explained that if a failure of election occurs in May, the chief justice is needed to succeed in the presidency because there is a situation that the president and the vice president have no hold-over capacity and the senate president and the house speakers are candidates.

“God forbids we’ll have chaos because either the military will come in or EDSA, the militants. It is so horrendous to imagine,” Gullas said.

If the president will not appoint Puno’s successor, Arroyo will be an accessory to committing a violation of Article 8, Section 13 of the Constitution which requires the Chief Justice to sign a certification of the business of the court everyday.

The IBP Cebu City Chapter passed a resolution last month opposing the move for the president to appoint Puno’s successor.

The IBP believes that the proposal will enable the president to circumvent the prohibition imposed by the Constitution by allowing her to appoint the new chief justice.

They said that any appointment made by the president to succeed Puno before he retires “is not only constitutionally impermissible but morally and historically devious because the president as an outgoing chief executive must not appoint a person to a position which has not become legally vacant.” — Fred P. Languido/BRP   (FREEMAN NEWS)