angelic moo

In my last post I discussed the secret records of the Judicial and Bar Council. Chief Justice Reynato Puno had a very terse and disappointing response to the issue: According to Newsbreak, he said, “I don’t mind telling the public how I vote. But it has to be a consensus [of the JBC].” This is a very peculiar response, especially from the Chief Justice. The clamor for making the records to the public implicates more than the preferences of the members of the JBC; it implicates transparency and accountability of government officials. Instead of addressing the merits of the concerns, the Chief Justice—the Chair of the JBC—shrugs his shoulders and says the JBC refuses to make its records public so there is nothing he can do about it. It would be a very dark day in public service if all our officials are as dismissive about transparency and accountability.

So much is said about the possible appointment of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago to the Supreme Court but the truth is that there is no law that prevents her appointment. President Arroyo would be well within her right to appoint her to the Court and to designate her as Chief Justice. This would be nothing new for the President. Arroyo broke the tradition of seniority by designating Artemio Panganiban as Chief Justice and in bypassing Justice Reynato Puno, who was named to the court three years earlier. No other President since Ferdinand Marcos has bypassed the most senior member of the Court when designating the Chief Justice. Marcos’ refusal to honor the tradition of seniority was regarded as a means of retaining control over the judiciary. He bypassed Claudio Teehankee, a Justice critical of the Marcos regime, twice to prevent or delay his rise to the post of chief justice.

The Judicial and Bar Council has declared the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court open for nomination with the impending retirementof Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban on December 7, 2006. The practice of selecting the Chief Justice should be the subject of serious study (I am not aware of any) especially in light of our recent experience. The selection of the Chief Justice should be a critical task but the selection process in the Philippines, according to critics, is far from perfect. The designation of Artemio Panganiban as Chief Justice raised two issues: the system engenders cronyism and the system is exclusionary in that it limits potential appointees to sitting members of the Court. The last time President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo selected a Chief Justice, her decision generated controversy. Arroyo ignored the most senior member of the Court, Reynato Puno in favor of Artemio Panganiban. Puno was named to the Court three years earlier. No President since Ferdinand ...