A lame duck's flurry of midnight appointments

A sitting president, who is the titular head of the controlling majority party, which is unable to put up a presidential candidate in a major presidential election, might as well qualify to be called a lame duck. Sixty days before the crucial polls, the president is still unable to choose whom to endorse, while worrying so much on how the next president shall treat him and his family.

The president is vested by the Constitution the power to appoint all the justices of the Supreme Court, all the generals in the armed forces, all the ambassadors to all countries with whom we have diplomatic relations, all the Cabinet secretaries and bureau as well as regional directors. He is also the only one authorized to appoint the chairman and the commissioners of the Commission on Elections, the Commission on Audit, and the Civil Service Commission. No one can become a judge of even the lowest court in the smallest city or municipal circuit court of even the remotest island without being appointed by the president. If a president wants to respect his successor, he could, in the exercise of utmost delicadeza, allow the appointment to be done later by the next president.

The term "midnight appointments" was not invented in the Philippines. That was first used to refer to the second president of the USA, John Adams, who, in the last few days of his stay at the White House was not sleeping just to hurry up with appointments of his friends and partymates to judicial, executive, military, and diplomatic positions. President Diosdado Macapagal charged then outgoing president Carlos P. Garcia of the same rushed accommodations of political allies by abusing the power to appoint. His daughter, GMA, was pressuring the Judicial and Bar Council to rush the nomination of the next chief justice to replace outgoing Reynato Puno.

To avoid this pernicious practice, it is provided under the Constitution's Article VII, Section 15: "Two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety." In violation of this constitutional provision, the president named a fellow Davao lawyer and political ally Karlo Nograles as chairman of the Civil Service Commission, and Lanao del Norte politician Saidamen Pagarungan as Comelec chairman. A little earlier a former Davao City accountant, allegedly with a pending case, Rizalina Justol, was named COA chairman.

Another Mindanaoan, Abdullah Derupong Mama-o was appointed as the first secretary of the newly-created Department of Migrant Workers. Presidential Management Staff Undersecretary Anderson Lo was named as the new Ombudsman for Mindanao. He will be in charge of handling corruption cases in Regions 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and the Bangsa Moro. Lo is the husband of Judge Jill Rose Jaugan-Lo, the president's first appointee as regional trial court judge. Dante Vargas was chosen as deputy ombudsman for Visayas, instead of other applicants like retired Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon and other career officials. Melvin Matibag, the secretary-general of the Cusi wing of the PDP Laban party was named Cabinet secretary to replace Nograles. Michael Regino was appointed SSS president and CEO.

Appointed as Court of Appeals justices were Davao City RTC Judge Ronald Tolentino and another Mindanaoan, acting Law dean Rogelio Largo. Jose Balmeo Jr. has been appointed deputy ombudsman for the military. Out of the 15 justices of the Supreme Court only three (and soon to be only two with the impending retirement of senior associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe) are not appointees of the president. If and when the next president is not an ally of President Duterte, it is highly probable that these midnight appointments may be questioned in the proper court. And let us see how the courts will decide.