When the Judicial and Bar Council meets again Monday to continue the process of drawing up a short list of replacements for ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona, it will be without a representative from the legislative branch.

 

This was after a meeting between leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Friday, where they agreed to temporarily pull out their representatives to the JBC while they consult their respective members on the matter.

 

"With due respect to the Supreme Court, Congress is composed of two houses. The Senate cannot represent the position of the House in the JBC, and neither can the House represent the position of the Senate in the JBC. We agreed we will have to consult our respective chambers and present the problem to them. In the meantime, we instructed the representatives of the House and Senate in the JBC not to participate in the JBC proceedings," Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said in an interview on dzBB radio.

Enrile said those who attended the meeting at the EDSA Shangri-LA were himself, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Senator Francis Escudero, Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., and House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II.

 

He said the temporary pullout will last until the issue "is clearly and correctly decided."

Reached for his comment, Tupas said: "We were instructed by the leadership not to participate in the JBC proceedings until the issue is finally resolved because a House member cannot represent the Senate and a senator cannot represent the House."

 

Last week, the high court ruled that Congress should have only one representative in the JBC. Tupas and Escudero are presently Congress' representatives to the JBC, as heads of the House and Senate justice committees, respectively.

 

On the other hand, Enrile questioned the present composition of the JBC, saying the 1987 Constitution was "very clear" that the Chief Justice and not any justice, "not even the acting Chief Justice," can be the ex-oficio JBC chairman.

 

"There's no such thing as an acting Chief Justice as far as that provision of the Constitution is concerned, in the same manner the Senate President Pro Tempore cannot substitute for the Senate President as chairman of the Commission on Appointments," he said.

 

"Walang Chief Justice ngayon, paano magkaroon ng JBC (There is no Chief Justice now. How can you have a JBC)?" he added.

 

He said it was unfair that the provision on the Chief Justice presiding over the JBC was not followed strictly, while the constitutional provision of Congress having only one representation was enforced.

 

"Bakit apply (it) only on Congress and not on the Supreme Court? ... What the Constitution says, the Chief Justice is the ex-oficio chairman of the JBC. Both provisions of the Constitution must be enforced," he said.

 

Also, he said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is also a member of the JBC by constitutional law. "Why is she being represented by someone else, which is not authorized under the Constitution?" he added.

 

Enrile said it is up to the rest of the JBC members to push through with Monday's  deliberation and voting.

 

"Problema nila yan, di namin problema yan (That's their problem, not ours). We'll have to consult our respective chambers for our position, we cannot decide it by ourselves," he said.

 

Appoint chief justice

 

In the same radio interview, Enrile also suggested that Aquino break the impasse by appointing the chief justice.

 

"He is the appointing power. If there is a hiatus, the president, as a matter of necessity, must appoint the chief justice," he said.

 

"We cannot allow a hiatus to take place but we cannot allow a violation of the Constitution," he added. — with Kim Tan/RSJ, GMA News