Following the Supreme Court’s recent ruling allowing President Gloria Arroyo to choose the next chief justice amid the legal issues raised against appointments during the election period, constitutional law professor and Nacionalista Party (NP) senatorial candidate Atty. Adel Tamano urged PGMA to leave the task to her successor.

“While I doubt she has any decency left, I sincerely hope that PGMA leaves the task of appointing the next Chief Justice to her successor,” Tamano said.

“The SC may have ruled in her and her minions’ favor this time but PGMA should remember that so many eyes are on her. People will continue to monitor her actions. Voters will remember what she will do,” Tamano warned.

The young lawyer-senatorial candidate also shared his sentiments with regard to the SC ruling.

“The law clearly states that the incumbent president cannot appoint anyone within the period of the constitutional ban. According to Art. VII, Section 15 of the Constitution, there is no exception for appointments in the judiciary. Hence, needless to say, I’m deeply disappointed with the ruling,” Tamano said.

“However, in my many years as a practising lawyer, this isn’t the first time that I got disappointed with the ruling of the court,” he added.

“However, what’s important now is the action that PGMA will take because of this development. If she really does not have any hidden agenda, then she will leave the task of appointing the next Chief Justice to her successor,” Tamano insisted.

In a landmark decision penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, the high courts said that the ban on midnight appointments does not cover the judiciary. Nine out of 15 justices reasoned that there is nothing under the law that prohibits PGMA from appointing the next CJ upon the retirement of Chief Justice Reynato Puno on May 17.