GMA may announce new chief justice before May 17

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo could announce her choice for the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno even before his retirement from the Supreme Court on May 17, a Malacañang official said yesterday.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Raoul Victorino said nothing prevents the President from naming her choice before May 17, although the appointment will be effective only after Puno retires.

SC officials had earlier reminded Mrs. Arroyo that she could not appoint Puno’s replacement before his retirement as the Palace earlier insisted.

Palace officials on Tuesday backtracked and said the President would wait for Puno’s retirement before making an appointment. Yesterday the Palace changed its tune again.

Victorino said the early announcement could allow the incoming chief justice to have the “time and opportunity to prepare for the position of the highest magistrate of the highest court of the land.”

“The President may have the pleasure, and the prerogative, of announcing her choice before the formal appointment,” Victorino told a news briefing. “There is no contradiction between the announcement and the appointment itself. It’s like a transition (process).”

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said he was not aware if Mrs. Arroyo has already received the shortlist of nominees from the Judicial and Bar Council, a body tasked to screen possible appointees to the judiciary.

The four nominees in the JBC shortlist are Senior Associate Justice Renato Corona, Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Arturo Brion, of the Supreme Court; and acting Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval of the Sandiganbayan.