According to the Inquirer.net Editor, the issue of Aquino’s swearing into the Office of the President is “settled“.
MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court
has apparently accepted presumptive presidential winner Sen. Benigno Aquino III’s declared intention to take his oath before a magistrate other than Chief Justice Renato Corona to underscore his opposition to Corona’s appointment by outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.Aquino’s reported choice of Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales to swear him in at least acknowledges the Supreme Court as a co-equal branch of government, said court administrator and spokesperson Midas Marquez.
Capio-Morales is known as “the only magistrate who dissented against the high court’s March 17 ruling giving Ms Arroyo the right to appoint the successor to Chief Justice Reynato Puno who retired last May 17”. What does this mean? It means that to President-Elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, it is still all about personalities.
Still the brat that he is, after realising that getting himself sworn in by a Barangay Captain will only make him an even bigger chump than he already is, Noynoy grudgingly agrees to be sworn in by a Supreme Court official — one who is mabango (savory) in his personal book (never mind with regard to the Office he represents).
Who’s he fooling? Does he think that a move like this will give everyone the impression that he actually respects the institution of the Supreme Court?
Think again.
Imagine being invited to dine in the home of a friend whose spouse you are not in good terms with. Do you accept the invitation, or not? If you do, would you be able to envision yourself sitting through an entire dinner without speaking to your friend’s spouse?
By agreeing to be sworn in by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, Noynoy Aquino indicates that he recognises the high court in principle. Indeed, why else would he agree to this option? But then get this: apparently Noynoy recognises the house, but not the head of the house. The way Noynoy Aquino plans to approach his oath-taking can be likened to dining in a home without acknowledging the presence of the spouse of the host (if not the head of the household). One Filipino word: bastos (“rude”).
The more pwede-na-yan solutions Noynoy’s little brain thinks up, the more logical convolutions he creates.
If Noynoy Aquino is adamant about not recognising the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, then indeed, the more sensible option for him is to take his oath of office with a Barangay Captain as he originally said he would. That way, he cannot be accused of not exhibiting that virtue known as delicadeza, a virtue so revered and so often bandied around by the sort of judgmental bozos that infest our lot, those who see themselves as guardians of that laughable oxymoron: Filipino tradition.
Has the “issue” been settled Mr Inquirer Editor? Considering that it was your presidential manok that made what could have been a non-issue into a BIG ISSUE, it comes across as a bit funny that you now stumble all over yourselves to prematurely declare this “issue” as “settled”.
Get Real Philippines 
“But then get this: apparently Noynoy recognises the house, but not the head of the house”
he’s not really the “head” or “boss” of the other justices. the chief justice isnt really that different than the other justices. all cases are decided upon by majority decision — the CJ’s vote has the same weight.
Gabbyd:
Your mom or dad – eats food just like you. Does it make them any less head of the house? 😆
naman naman naman…. 😆
It seems you’re opposing Benign0’s analogy just for the sake of opposing. Naman naman naman GabbyD. If you disagree with Benign0’s points, just say it properly.
If the Chief Justice is not the head or boss of the justices, then why name him Chief Justice? Even if the mom or dad eats food like us, they have authority over the children. The parents should be noticed by the guest… even just they may be just the children’s guest. Aquino is this guest. He should pay respect the right way. Otherwise, he can leave that house and go to that barangay captain’s house… in Hacienda Luisita. Naman naman naman.
It’s a reflection of suddenly “patriotic” Pinoys’ adherence to one of their favorite excuses, Vox Populi, Vox Dei. So when GabbyD says the Chief Justice is the chief of nobody, he’s cutting him down to empower whoever isn’t chief.
It’s the Filipino way to empower themselves – by making someone else powerless (by disregarding someone else’s authority).
It’s people power of the most common flavor, just the way Margallo likes too. “Supreme Court? Not supreme enough for us!”
“It’s the Filipino way to empower themselves – by making someone else powerless (by disregarding someone else’s authority).”
So Filipinos the realization of Tomas Hobbes’ view of man.
That’s just sad.
GOD the parallels I just saw are disturbing. Noynoy is doing this and GabbyD, apparently a passive Noynoy supporter is also DOING IT AS WELL! Probably other Noynoy supporters who feel that ultimately, they (people) are the checks and balance of the government and not the institutions that were there to begin with.
@chino
i’m just telling the truth. the CJ has no additional power because he is called “chief”. he is one of the 14(15?) justices. decisions are based on majority. they all have fixed terms. read the constitution — its all there. dont take it from me. read it yourself
scratch that fixed term part. they serve until the mandatory retirement age.
@Bong
so the CJ is the DAD/MOM of the other justices? i dont think they know that… you should tell them about it… takes “we are family” to a whole new level!
Gabbyd:
Mommy and Daddy taught me to read the wikipedia 😉
The Constitution does not ascribe any formal role to the Chief Justice other than as an ex-officio Chairman of the Judicial and Bar Council and as the presiding officer in any impeachment trial of the President. The Chief Justice is also required to personally certify every decision that is rendered by the Court. He or she carries only 1 vote out of 15 in the Court, and is generally regarded, vis-a-vis the other Justices, as the primus inter pares rather than as the administrative superior of the other members of the Court.
Still, the influence a Chief Justice may bear within the Court and judiciary, and on the national government cannot be underestimated. In the public eye, any particular Supreme Court is widely identified with the identity of the incumbent Chief Justice, hence appellations such as “The Concepcion Court”, “The Fernando Court”, or “The Puno Court”. Moreover, the Chief Justice usually retains high public visibility, unlike the Associate Justices who tend to labor in relative anonymity, with exceptions such as Associate Justice J.B.L. Reyes in the 1950s to 1970s.
By tradition, it is also the Chief Justice who swears into office the President of the Philippines. One notable deviation from that tradition came in 1986. Due to the exceptional political circumstances culminating in the EDSA Revolution, on February 25, 1986, Corazon Aquino took her oath of office as President before then Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee in San Juan just minutes before Ferdinand Marcos took his own oath of office also as President before Chief Justice Ramon Aquino. Marcos fled into exile later that night.
You a Catholic, GabbyD? So am I, and this is how I see the SC:
Think of the Justices as bishops. If we are to apply what BongV said viz. the Chief Justice, he is essentially the Pope of the Supreme Court. After all, in both cases (the Supreme Court and the Catholic Church hierarchies), the heads are the first among equals.
@ GabbyD, he is the head of the Supreme Court. Perhaps not exactly the “boss” of the other justices but the head of the institution just the same.
@Gabby D.
The Chief Justice is not just an ordinary “chief”. He is the no. 5 official in the line of authority who will be in charge of government in the event that there’s vacancy in the offices of the President, VP, Senate Pres, and House Speaker.
GabbyD
There’s a thing called hierarchy… and there’s this concept called three branches of government… remember polisci101? Start your argument from there… wonder why it’s designed that way and thou shall gain at least a little wisdom from that simple cognitive exercise. THINK GABBYD… THINK!!!!
Orocan?
Noynoy’s pettiness and petulance are the center of news stories at a time when serious issues
confronting the nation and how the new administration should address them should be central topic of media coverage. Why oh why, are we stuck in this level of childish political play? Gabby D, you should
be as depressed as I am over this sorry state of affairs in our country with the new leadership or
lack of it at the helm of government.
That’s the bigger issue actually (for that matter it’s been a general issue with Pinoy society overall) — our focus on the small, irrelevant, and flawed arguments rather than on the big relevant and high-impact issues that affect ordinary Filipinos.
That Noynoy would focus on an issue that impacts his VANITY and his vendetta impulses but is actually of no consequence to the average Pinoy exhibits the REALITY of the falseness of all the populist platitudes and emo slogans he’s been dishing out throughout his campaign.
@Gabby D, the basic issue here is Aquino’s defiance of the Supreme Court’s authority.
After belatedly realizing that the barangay captain option was ignorant as far as the law was concerned, Aquino now says he will respect the Supreme Court and take his oath in front of a member of the court.
Does this mean he is now respecting the court’s authority? NO. Because Aquino pointedly said he will only take his oath from Assoc. Justice Carpio-Morales since she is the only justice who voted against allowing Arroyo to appoint Chief Justice Corona.
Aquino is still defying the final, majority decision of the court, a decision which, unfortunately for him, has valid grounds in the 1987 constitution that is riddled with loopholes. Please read Article VIII, Section 4(1) here.
When you think about it, this shouldn’t be that big a deal, right? As Chiz Escudero said, you can personally disagree with the court, but after the court has spoken, you have to respect the decision. But why is Aquino being extremely bullheaded about this? Could it be that he has vested interests at stake?
“Does this mean he is now respecting the court’s authority? NO. Because Aquino pointedly said he will only take his oath from Assoc. Justice Carpio-Morales since she is the only justice who voted against allowing Arroyo to appoint Chief Justice Corona.”
first, he hasnt categorically said it yet. point of fact lang, he may at the end still swear under the CJ.
second, lets discuss. i’ll make an argument that defends swearing in by a justice of aquino’s choosing, from aquino’s POV.
your argument is : his choice of WHO on the court swears him in tells us whether he accepts the SC’s authority.
my argument. his choice of WHO on the court swears him in tells us whether he agrees with A decision
whose decision? not the SC’s, but GMA’s!
my argument: he doesnt have a problem with the institution of the SC. he doesnt have a problem with the CJ. his problem is that GMA appointed a CJ when it would it have been possible for her NOT to have appointed as the provision u cite calls for a replacement within 3 months from May 17. (so, the deadliest deadline is August 17. presidential proclamation is June 30, before August 17).
the other side of this argument says that the CJ should be installed asap because of election protests. to me, this doesnt make sense — there is no necessary requirement for there even to be a CJ when an election protest is filed.
my argument: filling in the CJ position NOW (last week, actually!) is a POLITICAL ACT by GMA; this is the ACT that is opposed by the president apparent.
choosing the person who will swear him in involves signaling his rejection of GMA’s act, while recognizing the SC’s historic/symbolic role in the inauguration. there is NO law that says he MUST be sworn in by someone specific in the court, so he is free to signal his rejection of GMA’s act, while at the same time recognizing the SC’s historic role in the proclamation.
to repeat: Aquino has no issues with the SC, or with the CJ. the problem is with GMA, exercising a power where there is no clear reason to exercise.
to repeat: while there is disagreement on the SC decision by citizens all over, EVERYONE agrees that it is binding now, until it (theoretically) may be reversed later.
@GabbyD:
1) You said: “he hasnt categorically said it yet. point of fact lang, he may at the end still swear under the CJ”
– I don’t think he said he may still swear under the CJ. What he said was he might do his oath with Carpio-Morales because she was the lone dissenter. I’ve explained in my previous comment why this means he is still defying the decision of the Supreme Court.
2) You said: “whose decision? not the SC’s, but GMA’s!”
– The decision was the SC’s decision. GMA being the Chief Executive was the implementor of that decision. It was the Supreme Court that gave Arroyo the authority to appoint Corona.
3) You said: “GMA appointed a CJ when it would it have been possible for her NOT to have appointed as the provision u cite calls for a replacement within 3 months from May 17. (so, the deadliest deadline is August 17. presidential proclamation is June 30, before August 17).”
– Yes, the 90-day deadline wasn’t up yet. But did Arroyo violate any laws? No. Because the Constitution says “within 90 days” from the occurence of the vacancy. Not at the end of 90 days from the occurrence of the vacancy. It’s brash, but it’s legal.
4) You said: “filling in the CJ position NOW (last week, actually!) is a POLITICAL ACT by GMA”
– Well, yes, but so what? Aquino wanting to appoint the Chief Justice himself is also a political act. As Miriam Santiago said, those who think there are no politics involved in appointing justices are totally NAIVE.
5) You said: “choosing the person who will swear him in involves signaling his rejection of GMA’s act, while recognizing the SC’s historic/symbolic role in the inauguration. there is NO law that says he MUST be sworn in by someone specific in the court, so he is free to signal his rejection of GMA’s act, while at the same time recognizing the SC’s historic role in the proclamation.”
– You’re right, there’s no law that requires him to take his oath before the chief justice. But the reason he gave for not doing so is clear evidence that he is disrespecting the decision of the court. If he was not disrespecting the decision of the court, he would not make a big deal about who swears him in, as long as it’s a member of the court. Then it would be automatic for the chief justice to swear him in, because that is the tradition. But the problem is Aquino cannot see the distinction between personalities and institutions. He takes everything personally.
I think Enrile, a constiutional expert has articulated it clearly, Arroyo needed to appoint a replacement to Puno to make sure a new CJ could be appointed. JBC has to submit the list of nominees to a sitting CJ for the new appointment to be executed. How could this be possible when Puno retires and therefore there is no CJ for JBC to submit the list to. The new president then will have no way of appointing a CJ, clearly this will create some sort of judicial crisis. Enrile further said that Aquino should thank Arroyo for appointing a CJ. I agree with the comment above that his excellency is unable to distinguish personalities from institutions and does have a strong tendency to take things personally.
This is an awkward situation.
What does President-Elect Noynoy Aquino expect of Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales when it comes to decision-making?
If he wants to send a signal that he is breaking political traditions, he should have chosen another authority, not the Supreme Court, to administer his oath.
For me as a political layman, President-Elect Noynoy projects his irresoluteness and lack of willingness to unite the Filipino people. (Parang laging Laban.)
People should think about this mercantile reason why Noynoy wants to appoint his own Supreme Court justice. Hacienda Luisita — remember that it is only a TRO (several years old already) that is preventing the land-reform of Hacienda Luisita.
May I ask what you infer of TRO? Top Rank Objective?
TRO – temporary restraining order.
temporary restraining order issued on June 14, 2006 preventing the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) from distributing the 6,453-hectares Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac to farm workers.
The restraining order stemmed from the petition filed by Hacienda Luisita, Inc. questioning PARC resolution No.2005-32-10 dated Dec.22, 2005, which upheld a Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) order revoking the stock distribution option (SDO) plan of the Hacienda Luisita management.
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Wag ninyong pag aksayahan ng panahon kung sinong alipores manunumpa si Abnoy. Dipa yan nakakasumpa gawa na ang articles of impeachment nyan.
his non-acceptance of the cj is just another symptom of a very flawed and very dangerous noynoy character which I think is driven by selfish interest. He has for sure imagined the damage to his interests that a co-equal power not beholden to him and removable only by impeachment will do until compulsory retirement.
90 million filipinos will stand to witness the blunder of noynoys incoming administration. They will endure it for 6 years. they will continue to suffer.