SC go-signal for Arroyo to appoint chief justice is premature—Melo

The Supreme Court (SC) decision allowing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to appoint the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno within a period of two months before her term ends was premature, said Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo. In an interview with reporters, Melo said he agreed with justices Eduardo Nachura and Presbitero Velasco Jr. who voted that the case was premature because Puno has yet to retire and Mrs. Arroyo has yet to decide if she will appoint a new chief justice. (See: Supreme Court allows Arroyo to appoint next chief justice) "I agree with the two, eh kung hindi nag-appoint ang presidente, eh di nagkagulo-gulo sila (what if the President does not appoint, then they would be in disarray)," said the chairman, who was also a former SC justice. Puno will retire on May 17, or seven days after the May 10 polls—the first time that the retirement of the chief justice creates a vacancy during the period when Section 15, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution prohibits midnight appointments. According to the said provision, the incumbent president is not allowed to make appointments two months before an election and until his or her term expires. As applied to this year, the election ban started on March 10 and will last until the end of President Arroyo’s term on June 30. But nine of the justices invoked another constitutional provision, Section 4 of Article VIII, which requires the President to appoint a chief justice within 90 days from the retirement of the chief justice, thus creating a constitutional gray area. Melo said the SC should have not been asked to give an "advisory opinion," which the high court supposedly does not usually do. "The justices were put in a difficult situation... parang nadi-divide ang justices (the justices were somehow divided)," he said. He said he would have preferred the high court to wait for the President to appoint, then if someone questions her move, then they should rule on it. "Wait until na nangyari (Wait until it has already happened)," he said. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, for his part, said that it hasn't always been clear whether there is a ban on appointments in the judiciary during the election period. "That's the issue... whether or not it extends to the judiciary," he said. But he quickly added that they have no choice but to abide by the high court's decision. "If the SC rules one way or another, we will just respect that," Jimenez said. —Kimberly Jane T. Tan/JV, GMANews.TV