Constitution
No pork barrel to recoup campaign expenses
May 3rd
I call on my fellow candidates to make a commitment not to use their pork barrel to recoup their campaign expenses, but rather to allocate these funds to projects that truly benefit the country.
With the candidates’ exorbitant spending in what I described as the most expensive election in Philippine history, legislators who are successfully elected must assure the people that their countrywide development funds, more commonly known as “pork barrel,” would not be used to reimburse their campaign expenses.
Our candidates, as well as the present members of Congress, should be mindful of the fact that while a senator or a More >
GMA cannot appoint next Sandiganbayan chief
Apr 6th
We, at the Liberal Party, maintain that the constitutional ban against midnight appointments is in effect and President Arroyo is barred from appointing the replacement of Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Norberto Geraldez who passed away due to a lingering illness last Sunday.
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) should not submit to Malacanang a list of nominees for the replacement of Geraldez since the ban is still in effect despite the Supreme Court’s March 17 ruling that the President can appoint the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno who retires on May 17.
In that SC decision, while the High Tribunal ruled that More >
SC row not about Carpio or Corona
Mar 2nd
I hope the raging controversy on whether President Arroyo can appoint the next Supreme Court Chief Justice would not deteriorate into a clash of personalities between SC Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Renato Corona.
I hope that we can bring back the debate, not on the personalities of these two senior justices, but of the concept and legal issues of whether or not the President violates the Constitution if she appoints the next chief justices despite the constitutional ban against midnight appointments.
While Carpio and Corona were the top contenders to succeed incumbent Chief Justice Reynato Puno who retires on May 17, More >
A call for judicial statesmanship
Feb 2nd
To avert a looming constitutional crisis, I am calling on Supreme Court Associate Justice Renato Corona to exercise judicial statesmanship by declining an appointment by President Arroyo to the position of Chief Justice since it would violate the Constitutional ban on midnight appointments.
I also urge the members of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to exercise judicial restraint and not succumb to the orchestrated pressure tactics exerted by Malacanang’s allies for the council to prematurely submit to the President a list of nominees for the next Chief Justice.
The members of the JBC will have to realize that they will be More >
Appointment is violation of Constitution
Jan 30th
I warn the members of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) that they will be a party to the palpable and gross violation of the Constitutional ban on midnight appointments if they submit a short list of nominees and President Arroyo appoints the replacement of outgoing Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
Even Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello, a member of the JBC, had publicly declared that President Arroyo can appoint a new Chief Justice only by picking from a short list of nominees to be submitted by the council.
This means that aside from the ban against midnight appointments, the President cannot appoint the More >
To the Presidentiables: Bare your stand on SC midnight appointment controversy
Jan 18th
I challenge our presidential candidates to bare their stand on the raging legal controversy on whether outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can still appoint the next Chief Justice despite a constitutional prohibition against presidential midnight appointments.
Only LP Presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has taken a firm stand on the controversy while most of the other presidential aspirants have opted to consistently play on the safe side on the matter.
This matter on whether we should allow the President to circumvent the constitutional ban against midnight appointments for her to be able to fiddle with the independence of the Supreme Court is More >
I don’t agree with Senator Enrile’s position on next SC chief appointment
Jan 18th
I disagree with the position taken by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile that President Arroyo can bypass the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) in appointing the successor of outgoing Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
The legal position taken Enrile, which appears to have been adopted by Malacanang, on the appointment of a Chief Justice without a JBC nomination, is a clear violation of the Constitution.
Article VIII, Section 4 (1) of the 1987 Constitution provides that the Supreme Court is composed of a Chief Justice and 14 associate justices. Thus, the members of the High Court are one Chief justice and 14 associate More >
Judiciary Act provides for process of succession in SC leadership
Jan 12th
Malacanang is maliciously raising unfounded fears of a possible vacuum in the leadership of the Supreme Court when Chief Justice Reynato Puno retires in May. Existing laws provide for a smooth succession to the post.
Contrary to the claim of Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor Jr. and Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello, Puno’s retirement on May 17, 2010 will not create a vacancy in the position of the SC Chief Justice because the Judiciary Act (Republic Act 296, as amended) provides for a process of succession in the event of a vacancy.
Section 12 of the Judiciary Act states: “In case of a More >
Malacanang allies “misinterpreting the law” on appointing next SC chief justice
Jan 11th
President Arroyo’s allies were “deliberately misinterpreting the 1987 Constitution” when they insisted that she can appoint a new Supreme Court Chief Justice even before Chief Justice Reynato Puno retires on May 17, 2010.
They will be violating the Constitution and the laws, on the claim of Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, a member of the Bar and Judicial Council, that the president can appoint a “chief justice-in-waiting” during the final weeks of her nine-year administration.
President Arroyo cannot appoint a new Supreme Court chief justice to replace Puno as his retirement date falls within the election More >
