'Drilon has hidden agenda in campaign vs appointment of new Supreme Court chief'

MANILA, Philippines - Former senator Franklin Drilon might have some hidden agenda in campaigning to block President Arroyo from appointing the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who retires on May 17, said Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Raul Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said Drilon appears to be lobbying for Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the most senior magistrate in the Supreme Court (SC) who earlier accepted the nomination to the post but stressed that he does not want to be appointed by Mrs. Arroyo.

The debate on the matter is whether the President is allowed to appoint a chief justice within the banned period of 60 days before her term expires on June 30.

The Philippine Constitution Association earlier took the position that Mrs. Arroyo is allowed to appoint a chief justice.

Gonzalez said Drilon knows that Carpio “is not on good terms with the President.”

“No doubt about it,” he said when asked whether Drilon was pushing to have Carpio appointed chief justice.

“He may or may not have any vested interest but he wants to install somebody who is not on good terms with the President.”

He said while Carpio may be the most senior member of the bench, it is not the primary consideration in appointing a chief magistrate.

“That’s (seniority) not an imperative. By tradition, maybe,” he said, adding there were instances in the past when the appointed chief justice was not the most senior in the SC.

Gonzalez, once a member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) that screens appointments in the judiciary, also cited a case in 1989 wherein the SC nullified the elections in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines that was supposed to have been won by Drilon’s wife, lawyer Violeta Drilon.

He said the SC found evidence that there was electioneering, overspending as well as use of government aircraft by Drilon, who was then labor secretary, to influence the elections.

He said the JBC should look into such incidents in the past in screening their nominations to the SC.

“Those things should be considered. Nobody is pure. There are some people who portray themselves as paragons of virtue but are not.”

“People should be more discerning but memories are rather short. Your record leaves after you (do). You may show yourself as a paragon of virtue today but in the past, your virtues were tested but you failed,” Gonzalez said.   – Paolo Romero