CASE 2016-0096: HON. PHILIP A. AGUINALDO, ET AL. VS. HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT BENIGNO SIMEON C. AQUINO III, ET AL. (G.R. NO. 224302, 29 NOV 2016, LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J.) (TOPIC/S: SUPERVISION OF SC OVER JBC; SELECTION OF JUDGES BY JBC)
DISPOSITIVE:
“WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Court DISMISSES the instant Petition for Quo Warranto and Certiorari and Prohibition for lack of merit. The Court DECLARES the clustering of nominees by the Judicial and Bar Council UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and the appointments of respondents Associate Justices Michael Frederick L. Musngi and Geraldine Faith A. Econg, together with the four other newly-appointed Associate Justices of the Sandiganbayan, as VALID. The Court further DENIES the Motion for Intervention of the Judicial and Bar Council in the present Petition, but ORDERS the Clerk of Court En Banc to docket as a separate administrative matter the new rules and practices of the Judicial and Bar Council which the Court took cognizance of in the preceding discussion as Item No. 2: the deletion or non-inclusion in JBC No. 2016-1, or the Revised Rules of the Judicial and Bar Council, of Rule 8, Section 1 of JBC-009; and Item No. 3: the removal of incumbent Senior Associate Justices of the Supreme Court as consultants of the Judicial and Bar Council, referred to in pages 35 to 40 of this Decision. The Court finally DIRECTS the Judicial and Bar Council to file its comment on said Item Nos. 2 and 3 within thirty (30) days from notice.
SO ORDERED.”
SUBJECTS/DOCTRINES/DIGEST:
“Without notice, warning, or explanation to the Supreme Court En Banc, Chief Justice Sereno recently unceremoniously relieved Supreme Court Associate Justices Presbiterio J. Velasco, Jr. and Teresita J. LeonardoDe Castro as JBC consultants, and in their stead, the Chief Justice appointed retired Chief Justices Hilario G. Davide, Jr., Artemio V. Panganiban, and Reynato S. Puno as JBC consultants. The experience and wisdom of the three retired Chief Justices are undisputed. However, practicality and prudence also dictate that incumbent Associate Justices of the Court should be retained as JBC consultants since their interest in the Judiciary is real, actual, and direct. Incumbent Associate Justices of the Court are aware of the present state, needs, and concerns of the Judiciary, and consultants from the Court, even if they have no right to vote, have served, from the organization of the JBC, as the only link to the supervisory authority of the Court over the JBC under the 1987 Constitution. Moreover, Hon. Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez already sits as a regular member of the JBC representing the Retired Supreme Court Justices, pursuant to Article VIII, Section 8(1) of the 1987 Constitution, which expressly describes the composition of the JBC, as follows:
Sec. 8. (1) A Judicial and Bar Council is hereby created under the supervision of the Supreme Court composed of the Chief Justice as ex officio Chairman, the Secretary of Justice, and a representative of the Congress as ex officio Members, a representative of the Integrated Bar, a professor of law, a retired Member of the Supreme Court, and a representative of the private sector. (Emphasis supplied.)
These changes in settled rules and practices recently adopted by the JBC under Chief Justice Sereno are disconcerting. There appears to be a systematic move by the JBC, under Chief Justice Sereno to arrogate to itself more power and influence than it is actually granted by the Constitution and this Court, and at the same time, to ease out the Court from any legitimate participation in the nomination process for vacancies in the Judiciary, specifically, in the Supreme Court. This behooves the Court, through the exercise of its power of supervision over the JBC, to take a closer look into the new rules and practices of the JBC and ensure that these are in accord with the 1987 Constitution, the pertinent laws, and the governmental policies of transparency and accountability in the nomination process for vacancies in the Judiciary.”
TO READ THE DECISION, JUST CLICK/DOWNLOAD THE FILE BELOW.
NOTE: TO RESEARCH ON A TOPIC IN YAHOO OR GOOGLE SEARCH JUST TYPE “jabbulao and the topic”. EXAMPLE: TO RESEARCH ON FORUM SHOPPING JUST TYPE “jabbulao and forum shopping”.
J.A.B. Bulao & Associates 