Corona sworn in today

Corona sworn in today | The Philippine Star >> News >> Headlines: "MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo is set to swear into office today Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Renato Corona as the new chief justice despite continued opposition to his appointment by presidential frontrunner Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, officials said yesterday.

Presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo reiterated yesterday Malaca�ang’s call for Aquino to respect the SC decision allowing Mrs. Arroyo to appoint a new chief justice while the constitutional ban on midnight appointments is in effect.

Saludo said Aquino should take his cue from the appeal of Corona’s predecessor, Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who warned the nation could be divided if the incoming president insists on not recognizing the appointment.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Raoul Victorino said Corona would be sworn in today as Puno had vacated his office last Friday and left for the United States to receive an award from his alma mater, the University of California in Berkeley.

Corona would be sworn in today “because Chief Justice Puno already had his retirement ceremony last Friday,” Victorino told The STAR in a telephone interview, adding that such ceremonies are normally held on the eve of retirement."

Victorino had said last week that the oath taking could be held at midnight tonight to ensure “continuity” in the SC.

“Nobody can question that (appointment), not even the president-elect (Aquino),” Victorino earlier told reporters.

Aquino earlier said he might ask a barangay chairman instead of the chief justice to swear him into office at noon on June 30.

Puno had expressed concern that Aquino’s refusal to honor the appointment of Corona would lead to a constitutional crisis.

Former President Fidel Ramos and other critics, on the other hand, urged Corona to reject the appointment to avoid any such crisis. Critics have said the SC ruling effectively rewrote the Constitution and overturned the high court’s own jurisprudence.

Puno told reporters last Friday that Aquino should respect the rule of law if he becomes the country’s 15th president.

He added that the SC has already come up with its ruling, which declared that the constitutional ban on midnight appointments does not cover vacancies in the SC, thus upholding the authority of Mrs. Arroyo to appoint his successor.

It would be up to the President to exercise such power, he said.

“The rule of law is the glue that unites our society, without the rule of law our society will disintegrate. All of us should observe this rule of law, there’s nobody who can excuse himself and say that he is not covered by the rule of law. The higher you are in the government the more you should respect the rule of law,” Puno said.

Puno believes that the executive, legislative and the judiciary, representing the three branches of government, should be united in promoting the good of the people.

Aside from Aquino, several groups and individuals expressed their opposition to Corona’s appointment.

Puno also asked Corona to keep the SC credibility intact and to show that the 15-member High Court would remain independent and not allow itself to succumb to pressure.

“The biggest challenge I would like to think for the Court is to immediately prove to the people that it is indeed an independent Court,” Puno said.

“My advice is simple, he (Corona) has to keep the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, completely independent, with integrity intact because as we all know the only enduring capital of the High Court is its credibility,” he added.

Those against Corona’s appointment believed that there was a violation of the constitutional ban on midnight appointments.

Corona is also known to be close to Mrs. Arroyo, thus putting his independence in question.

Corona served under the Arroyo administration as presidential chief of staff and spokesman before he was appointed as SC associate justice.

He also served as Mrs. Arroyo’s chief of staff and spokesman when she was still the vice president.

Puno will officially leave the SC tomorrow after Corona takes his oath as the 23rd chief justice.

Reason and statesmanship

Meanwhile, Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) executive director Vincent Lazatin, in behalf of the Supreme Court Appointments Watch, recently sent a letter to Corona.

In the letter dated May 14, Tan appealed to Corona “to let reason and statesmanship prevail by refusing to accept President GMA’s (Arroyo’s) appointment and allowing the next president to appoint the next chief justice of the Supreme Court.”

“It will only serve to cast doubt on the legitimacy of your appointment should you allow the incumbent president (who herself has suffered from questions of the legitimacy of her presidency) to name you the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” Tan said.

As head of the judiciary, he said Corona should maintain the integrity of the institution.

“Integrity starts with an appointment that is not only legitimate, but morally and ethically acceptable. A chief justice whose own appointment is embroiled in doubts and suspicion will not be an effective leader,” he said.

He added: “With the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the validity of the appointment of the next chief justice by the outgoing president, your selfless act of refusing GMA’s appointment and giving that authority to the next president may be the only way to spare the Supreme Court from continued controversy.”

Deputy presidential spokesperson Charito Planas admitted there is nothing in the law that states that Aquino should take his oath before the chief justice “but he will stand 10 feet taller” if he would do so and follow tradition.

She said if Aquino refuses to budge from his position of “not respecting” the Constitution and the Supreme Court, he could trigger a constitutional crisis that would eventually divide Filipinos.

“The fact that you do not recognize and you do not (respect) the Chief Justice as the head of the judicial department... the Constitution is the one that provides that the judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice and his (Corona’s) appointment is legal and the members of the Supreme Court already welcomed him and accepted him,” Planas said.

Retired SC justice Serafin Cuevas, who had also served as justice secretary, warned there could even be some possible unrest when the SC and the Palace under Aquino would finally come at loggerheads.

“As president, he (Aquino) should lead the country in defending and respecting the law and the Constitution especially on issues that the honorable Supreme Court has resolved, otherwise we will have chaos,” Cuevas told television network Net 25 last week.

“We may not agree but that’s the decision of the Supreme Court and that must be respected,” he said.