'Anti-GMA justices politicizing appointment of next Supreme Court chief'

MANILA, Philippines – Supreme Court justices critical of President Arroyo have succeeded in “politicizing” her appointment of the successor of retiring Chief Justice Reynato Puno, a senior administration lawmaker said yesterday.

Rep. Rodante Marcoleta of party-list Alagad said Justices Antonio Carpio and a relative, Conchita Carpio-Morales – the first and third most senior jurist, respectively – have only shown their true political colors in rejecting any appointment from the President.

He also criticized former Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Francis Pangilinan for claiming that it is unconstitutional for an outgoing President to make appointments from March 10 to June 30.

“So what is the big fuss on whether GMA should or should not appoint a new Chief Justice to replace Puno?” he asked, pointing out that whoever is the next chief justice would also be “beholden to those who were responsible to have made them so.”

“Wittingly or unwittingly, they have not only succeeded in politicizing the Highest Tribunal of the land at the expense of GMA but have also endeared themselves to the next Chief Magistrate,” Marcoleta said.

By refusing to be appointed chief justice by Mrs. Arroyo but agreeing to nomination by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), Carpio and Morales have in effect undermined the independence of the judiciary, he said.

He said Carpio and Morales virtually depend on the kindness and magnanimity of the next President to nominate them to the SC.

“By refusing to be appointed (by GMA), they have already breached the cold neutrality of an impartial judge. Chances are, they will be appointed by the next president. The victim here is the judiciary, where they are instrumental in eroding its independence,” he told The STAR. – With Aurea Calica and Perseus Echeminada

Marcoleta said the two magistrates should have refrained from making known their positions on the matter because the SC will have the final say on the issue.

“They joined the fray (in politicizing the issue),” he said.

He also advised Pangilinan and Drilon to “stop salivating” on the issue on the appointment of the next SC chief.

Puno retires on May 17 when he turns 70, the mandatory retirement age for justices.

Pangilinan and Drilon belong to the opposition Liberal Party. The law firm of Carpio - the Carpio, Villaraza, Marcelo and Cruz law office - is helping in the presidential campaign of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Arroyo and Carpio had a falling out in 2006, when the latter’s law partner former Defense Secretary Avelino “Nonong” Cruz resigned from the Cabinet.

Carpio’s senior partner Pancho Villaraza was the President’s lawyer in the initial stage of her administration.

No hidden agenda

Drilon, meanwhile, dismissed allegations by Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Raul Gonzalez that “a hidden agenda” was motivating him in his efforts to prevent President Arroyo from appointing the next SC chief.

“My only advocacy is to uphold the rule of law at all times. If (Gonzalez) thinks that is a hidden agenda, then he must be really sleeping on the job,” Drilon said.

“I have to point out these constitutional provisions against midnight appointments because the chief presidential legal counsel is obviously sleeping on the job,” Drilon said in statement.