Carpio not out of Duterte’s list for CJ appointment
ACTING CHIEF Justice Antonio T. Carpio, despite his resolute position on the country’s rights over the West Philippine Sea, still has a chance of being appointed as next chief justice, according to the President’s spokesperson.
“If you will look at the history of the President, when he appointed Harry Roque as spokesperson, I remember during the campaign he was against the President. He was supporting another candidate and yet the President appointed him and he became a member of the Cabinet. Also, those members of the Cabinet coming from the left, they were attacking the President and yet they were appointed,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a press briefing on Monday afternoon, Nov. 26.
He added: “So I don’t think you can derive a conclusion that just because someone is a critic of the administration, you cannot be appointed.”
But he noted that the seniority rule in choosing the next chief justice may not be necessarily followed.
“It’s the President’s call and the prerogative lodged on him by the Constitution, it’s discretionary,” he said.
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) released its short list for the next Supreme Court chief justice last week, which includes Mr. Carpio and Associate Justices Lucas P. Bersamin, Diosdado M. Peralta, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Andres B. Reyes Jr.
The Constitution states that the President should name a new chief justice within 90 days of the vacancy.
Former chief justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro retired last Oct. 10. 〞 — Arjay L. Balinbin
Malacañang tells GMA to file complaint on West Philippine Sea incident
MALACAÑANG ON Monday urged broadcast firm GMA Network, Inc. to submit a complaint to the government regarding the recent incident at the Panatag Shoal in the West Philippine Sea where its news team was driven away by members of the Chinese Coast Guard.
“Eh wala pa tayong nare-receive (We have not received any complaint yet). That was precisely my advice to GMA-7 correspondents. Sulatan ninyo kami para may basis naman kami (Write us a letter so that we have basis),” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a press briefing at the Palace on Monday, Nov. 26.
He said the government has to validate the incident first, although he admitted that he himself already saw the video.
“First, I said, we have to validate whether or not—because according to that Coast Guard, it was prohibited. I said, is it a policy of China to prohibit media men from going there or not? We don’t know that yet. So that’s why I told them, you have to give us a letter complaint, expressing your concern so that we can act appropriately. We will refer your complaint to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), and the DFA will write the government of China whether or not there is such a policy,” he explained.
Asked for comment, International Studies Professor Renato C. de Castro of De La Salle University said in a phone interview that the government can immediately initiate an investigation even without the formal filing of a complaint by the TV network.
“What happened was obvious, private citizens were harassed by members of the Chinese Coast Guard. What else do you need to investigate? It is simply that they don’t want to antagonize China….” Mr. de Castro said.
He stressed that GMA-7 “already said that it happened, so the government should investigate.”
“The Philippine government simply doesn’t want to antagonize China, so it’s putting the burden on a private company that doesn’t have any legal personality under International Law,” he added.
BusinessWorld contacted the GMA News and Public Affairs group for comment, but they had no official statement yet as of yesterday. 〞— Arjay L. Balinbin
