Aquino hits SC decision on 'midnight appointee'

Saying the Supreme Court's (SC) move can set back his administration's reform efforts, President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III criticized the court for preventing Malacañang from revoking the appointment of an alleged midnight appointee. In a press briefing in Malacañang, the President maintained that Executive Order No. 2 revoking Arroyo's more than 900 midnight appointments had to be issued because the Arroyo administration "exceeded and abused the limits of its powers to appoint." He criticized the Supreme Court's "status quo ante order" in the case of the petitioner, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) commissioner and secretary Bai Omera Dianalan-Lucman. The SC order requires Malacanang to observe the status quo that prevailed before Aquino’s issued EO No. 2 on July 30 in the case of Lucman. "While this Status Quo Ante Order applies only to one of four petitioners, let me be clear about its far-reaching consequences. By focusing on the minutiae of the case, the Supreme Court effectively turned back the clock. It dishonors the decency of those who had the courtesy to resign," said the president. "The potential result of this will be chaos and paralysis in the Executive Branch of government, as the legitimacy of officials appointed to replace those already removed will be cast in doubt," he said.

Lucman's petition was one of four questioning EO No. 2's constitutionality. Lucman was appointed by Arroyo on March 8 this year, took her oath on March 10 and assumed office on March 26. On September 16, Lucman asked the SC to declare EO No. 2 unconstitutional and to permanently prohibit the office of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. from enforcing the presidential order “against petitioner and other persons similarly situated." She also asked the high tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent Malacañang from enforcing the controversial order. If a TRO could not be issued, Lucman said the court should issue a status quo ante order to restore appointments before Aquino issued EO No. 2. Arroyo appointees All but one of the Supreme Court's 15 magistrates were appointed by Arroyo. In August, Aquino named then Asian Institute of Management Policy Center executive director Ma. Lourdes Aranal-Sereno as the latest Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Sereno occupied the vacant post left behind by Renato Corona, whom Arroyo appointed chief justice last May 17. The appointment of Corona — who served as Arroyo's former spokesman and acting executive secretary — as chief justice was also questioned by Aquino during the campaign period, but the SC ultimately upheld the legality of Corona's appointment. Aquino noted that the SC's decision came on the heels of another decision preventing the House of Representatives from holding impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Evoking the principle of separation of powers, Aquino asked the Supreme Court to "exercise judicial prudence at a time when the Filipino people deserve confidence-building measures from all our institutions rather than actions that might diminish this confidence." When asked if he thought that the SC's status quo ante order had anything to do with the fact that nearly all of the SC justices are Arroyo appointees, Aquino answered: "I'd rather maintain the view that I hold them in respect and I expect them to do what is right for the people." Constitutional prohibition The 1987 Constitution prohibits an incumbent president from making appointments two months before the elections until the president steps down from office. Applied to this year’s May 10 elections, the ban on appointments spans a nearly four-month period, from March 11 to June 30. However, President Aquino's EO No. 2 also said those who were appointed before March 11 but took oath or assumed office on or after March 11 are considered midnight appointees — making Lucman one of the 977 government officials covered by the executive order. Lucman said EO No. 2 violated the 1987 Constitution because the EO expands the application of what the Charter provided. She added that it also violated Republic Act No. 9997, which says an NCMF secretary shall serve for two years. "[Executive Order No. 2] unduly expands the constitutional definition of appointments and must be stricken down as void for over-breadth," said Lucman. "In one fell swoop, through [the] mere issuance of EO 2, Malacañang has cut down the term of the NCMF secretary, amending through executive action a provision of the law which only Congress could lawfully amend," she added. SC order will 'embolden' others Aquino said the Supreme Court's order will embolden hundreds of similarly situated Arroyo appointees. Some have already been replaced, others resigned, and still others were recalled. Aquino said some of these people may demand to be reinstated or retained. "This order has the potential to derail, or even nullify, our efforts to uncover and reverse midnight deals; streamline the bureaucracy; and implement reforms to bring back good governance," Aquino said. "It will enable those who had participated in midnight deals to at the very least, cover their tracks, if not complete acts inimical to the public interest," he added. He said those who knowingly accepted "illegal appointments" in the past became part of a "conspiracy to impede and to thwart, our people’s clamor for a return to good governance." –VVP, GMANews.TV