The impending retirement of Chief Justice Renato Puno on 17 May 2010 has been shrouded with much issue and controversy, centering on the power of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to appoint the next head of the Judiciary. The issue has centered on two conflicting provisions of the 1987 Constitution, one which prohibits the President from making appointments to positions 60 days before the succeeding elections, the so-called “midnight appointments” prohibition, and another which calls on the President to fill in any vacancy in the position of chief justice within 90 days from its occurrence. Various individuals and groups have called on the president not to make the appointment, while the Palace has said that the President will choose the next chief justice to fulfill her constitutional mandate.
The Constitution, in clear and unequivocal terms prohibits any appointments to be made by the President during the 90 day period before the end of her term. Although the President is mandated to fill in any vacancy in the judiciary 90 days from its occurrence, this power and duty is limited by the above constitutional provision. The proscription on “midnight appointments” should be read and harmonized with the duty of the president to fill in vacancies as a qualification on the mandate to make such an appointment. The clear intent of the framers of our constitution is to shield the appointing power of the president from patronage politics and the use of the government for self-interest. Provisions in the Constitution should be read in harmony with each other, and one provision cannot be separated from any other.
We thus call on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to exercise prudence, restraint, and statesmanship by not appointing the next chief justice and allowing the next president elect to make the said decision. The rule of law must be upheld and respected; no one is above the law and the Constitution, not even the President. Our institutions, especially the judiciary, must be insulated from partisan politics. At a time when the Philippines lacks moral leadership and ascendancy, at a point when the integrity of our institutions are being challenged, and at an age when the rule of law faces challenges amidst a sea of injustice, the President must show the people and the world that she is a President bent on protecting and promoting our democracy and our democratic institutions.
