By Edu Punay
The Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines – The case that will test the constitutionality of the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona by Congress has been assigned to Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, his closest rival for the top Supreme Court (SC) post, an insider revealed over the weekend.
The insider also said the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the Senate from proceeding with the impeachment trial of the Chief Justice would be tackled by the magistrates in their first full-court session on Jan. 17.
Carpio is reportedly among those being pushed as possible replacement for the Chief Justice should the Senate decide to oust Corona.
The source explained that a TRO, as prayed for in the petitions of lawyer Vladimir Cabigao, tax informer Danilo Lihaylihay, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president Vicente Millora and lawyer Oliver Lozano, could immediately be issued only if there is a recommendation from the member-in-charge and approval from the chief justice.
In this case, Corona is expected to inhibit from the petitions where he is the subject, the insider explained.
“They (justices) would most probably put it to a vote,” the source told The STAR.
The chief justice has the power to act on cases and issue a TRO upon recommendation of the member-in-charge and consultation with justices when such action is urgently needed during recess of the tribunal.
Such order would then be subject to affirmation of the majority of the justices in their next full-court session.
With the case assigned to Carpio, a court observer who refused to be identified due to a pending case in the SC said the senior justice should be asked to also inhibit himself from the case due to delicadeza (propriety) since some sectors are pushing for him to replace Corona.
“Justice (Lourdes) Sereno should also inhibit since Malacañang already announced she is being considered as possible replacement,” the lawyer said.
It was learned that all four petitions were separately raffled to different justices last week. But under the rules, the case of Lihaylihay that had the lowest docket number went to Carpio.
Under the internal rules of SC, different petitions anchoring on the same legal grounds shall be consolidated and will be assigned to the magistrate who will get the lowest docket number.
Once the case shall be consolidated in full-court session, it is expected to be assigned to Carpio.
SC spokesman Midas Marquez refused to confirm this, saying he has yet to check with the office of the clerk of court after the long holiday break.
Marquez only revealed the petitions would be tackled by the justices on Jan. 17.
“As to what action or actions the court will take, we cannot preempt that. Let’s just wait and see,” he said.
Petitioners questioned the swift proceedings in the House of Representatives, which only took five hours for the approval of eight articles of impeachment by 188 congressmen.
They also alleged the lawmakers who signed the petition to impeach Corona were coerced into signing the document they had not read or studied in depth.
Some lawmakers identified with the Aquino administration urged the SC not to act anymore on the case and just let the trial proceed.
Marquez earlier criticized Malacañang for initiating its search for the possible replacement of Corona even before his trial in the Senate, saying such move was “too presumptuous” and “too arrogant” since there is no vacancy yet to speak of and the selection process should be left to the Judicial and Bar Council.
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2 Supreme Court justices to step down in 2012?
By Delon Porcalla
The Philippine Star
The Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines – Owing to mounting pressure from the executive department following the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona, two justices of the 15-member Supreme Court (SC) are reportedly contemplating stepping down this year, sources revealed yesterday.
Three separate sources revealed the two appointees of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would cut their term short and have made known their intention of relinquishing their posts, even if their retirements go beyond the term of President Aquino.
The STAR, however, is withholding the names of the two magistrates and the circumstances under which they would be retiring early by way of resignation.
Vaguely, the first justice is supposed to retire in 2019 while the other one retires in 2017. Aquino will be stepping down from the presidency on June 30, 2016, after his fixed six-year term in office.
Of the 15 justices, Aquino only has three appointees – Justices Maria Lourdes Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas-Bernabe. The rest were appointees of Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative.
While the 13 are Arroyo appointees, one of them – Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio – has been vocal against the former president, whose family had been his client for a long time until their falling out sometime in 2006, or after the “Hello, Garci” election fraud scandal broke out.
Carpio’s law firm had been opposing Corona’s appointment, but failed. But now with the impeachment trial, hopes have again resurfaced, especially because he has been sympathetic to Aquino, and his law firm advises Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.
While the current impeachment is focused on Corona, Aquino is open to the idea of having all the Arroyo-appointed justices impeached, if only for his reform agenda to bear fruit, as he sees them as stumbling blocks to his efforts to reform government.
Preparing a replacement
Aquino has asked his legal advisers for a list of candidates who might replace Corona even in the absence of a vacancy.
“He’s not a lawyer that’s why he needs to rely on his legal team to look into (such list),” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said earlier.
Lacierda though clarified this is not in any way an encroachment on the turf of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
“Very clearly, the President did not instruct the JBC, the President instructed his legal advisers in case that there will be a removal of a chief justice to look for a chief justice but there is still shortlist yet. Let me clarify, there is still no shortlist yet,” he said.
The nine-man JBC is the constitutional body that screens nominees to the judiciary, comes up with a shortlist and submits it to the President, who shall choose from among the list on who he wants to appoint.
The JBC can only screen candidates to a post once it is declared vacant. In this case, Corona has yet to undergo trial at the Senate impeachment court starting Jan. 16, and has yet to be acquitted or convicted, which means there is no vacancy for the top SC post.
“This is merely an eventuality but he has asked his legal advisers to look into names for possible chief justice. But there is no shortlist yet. There’s no legal issue because we’re just preparing for a contingency. This is just a contingency,” Lacierda said.
Aquino also has the option of appointing an outsider – or a lawyer who does not come from the ranks of the 15 Supreme Court justices.
“The President mentioned that he’s open to an outsider,” Lacierda said.
In an interview with veteran reporter Lynda Jumilla, host of ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Strictly Politics,” Aquino admitted having asked his legal team to give him a list of possible candidates who could replace Corona.
Aquino said he is not yet looking at Corona’s replacement but wants to be ready in case the Chief Justice is removed.
When asked if he wants Carpio as Corona’s replacement, Aquino said, “There’s no shortlist yet.”
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Enrile: Only military can stop Corona impeachment trial
By Christine O. Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Senate is not under any pressure to complete the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, which begins on January 16, within a certain time frame, or to deliver a specific verdict, according to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.
In a radio interview Sunday, Enrile cautioned both Malacañang and the Supreme Court against meddling in the impeachment trial of the Chief Justice.
The Senate President said that no one could dictate terms on him, “only God and the people.”
But he conceded, “The only one that can stop us is the might of the military.”
He said he did not think the high court would heed a petition to issue a temporary restraining order against the Senate trial.
It is the Senate that is tasked to conduct the trial and neither the executive nor the judiciary could dictate the outcome or time frame of the exercise, declared Enrile.
The Senate President assured the public that he would “not side with anyone,” saying he respected both the executive branch and the Supreme Court.
But I hope they will understand that we were tasked not by the Supreme Court or the executive but by the people to be the judges in this case before us. They should understand and accept this. We will do our job and they cannot meddle,” he said in Filipino.
President Benigno Aquino III’s allies in the House of Representatives filed the impeachment complaint against Corona after the Supreme Court issued a restraining order against Malacañang’s move to stop former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from leaving the country.
What is important for the Senate is to ensure that the impeachment trial is “orderly, calm, not rowdy and not rude, and that we would follow the rules.”
“If the process would be quick or slow, that would be the responsibility of the lawyers of the House and the lawyers for the accused,” Enrile said.
Enrile described as “ordinary” and “natural” the bid of Corona’s lawyers to seek the dismissal of the impeachment complaint due to its supposed failure to meet Constitutional requirements.
If Corona’s arguments prove to be right, the Senate has no choice but to return it to the House, otherwise the trial shall proceed, Enrile said.
While the Senate will conduct a preliminary hearing on the issue of whether or not the complaint against Corona was complete, this would be a short proceeding, Enrile said.
Enrile also said he would not allow chatty lawyers.
“They must get to the point,” he said. Enrile is a former trial lawyer.
“Titignan ko ang galing ng mga abogadong ito [I will see how good these lawyers are],” he said.
