The Judicial and Bar Council’s duty of selecting nominees for chief justice could be useless for the next president, a constitutionalist said.
“It’s something like an act of Congress which if not acted on in one session, that’s all forgotten and start all over again,” Fr. Joaquin Bernas, dean emeritus of the Ateneo School of Law said.
The current Judicial and Bar Council will be reduced to just three members from eight. Only retired Supreme Court Justice Regino Hermosisima, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) representative Conrado Castro and private sector representative Justice Aurora Santiago-Lagman will remain when the JBC members from both chambers of Congress are replaced after the elections and appointment of new House committee members. The Justice Secretary will also be replaced when the next President appoints new Cabinet members. Dean Amado Dimayuga’s term meanwhile will end after three years and Chief Justice Reynato Puno will retire on May 17.
“The JBC might just follow it up. That is their discretion,” Bernas said.
The constitutionalist said currently, the JBC is in a difficult position.
“If the JBC submits it to President Arroyo, implicitly, the JBC is saying that, ‘yes, you have the power [to appoint despite ban under the Constitution]. On the other hand, if the JBC refuses to submit, then the JBC implicitly be saying ‘no you don’t have the power’ [to appoint],” Bernas explained in an interview Friday.
Under Article VII Section 15, political appointments are prohibited two months before a presidential election and until the end of the incumbent’s term.
Bernas said the prohibition will start March 10 and end June 30, close to one and-a-half months after Puno’s retirement.
“If Arroyo will appoint, it will be a violation of the Constitution,” Bernas said.
“It’s something like an act of Congress which if not acted on in one session, that’s all forgotten and start all over again,” Fr. Joaquin Bernas, dean emeritus of the Ateneo School of Law said.
The current Judicial and Bar Council will be reduced to just three members from eight. Only retired Supreme Court Justice Regino Hermosisima, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) representative Conrado Castro and private sector representative Justice Aurora Santiago-Lagman will remain when the JBC members from both chambers of Congress are replaced after the elections and appointment of new House committee members. The Justice Secretary will also be replaced when the next President appoints new Cabinet members. Dean Amado Dimayuga’s term meanwhile will end after three years and Chief Justice Reynato Puno will retire on May 17.
“The JBC might just follow it up. That is their discretion,” Bernas said.
The constitutionalist said currently, the JBC is in a difficult position.
“If the JBC submits it to President Arroyo, implicitly, the JBC is saying that, ‘yes, you have the power [to appoint despite ban under the Constitution]. On the other hand, if the JBC refuses to submit, then the JBC implicitly be saying ‘no you don’t have the power’ [to appoint],” Bernas explained in an interview Friday.
Under Article VII Section 15, political appointments are prohibited two months before a presidential election and until the end of the incumbent’s term.
Bernas said the prohibition will start March 10 and end June 30, close to one and-a-half months after Puno’s retirement.
“If Arroyo will appoint, it will be a violation of the Constitution,” Bernas said.
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