MANILA, Philippines?Facing the media for the first time as the country?s highest magistrate, Renato Corona made two things clear?his appointment to his new post stood on solid ground and he was not bothered by President-apparent Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III?s threat not to recognize him, dismissing it as ?political saber-rattling.?

The Philippines? 23rd Chief Justice Monday also tried to quash the perception in political and legal circles that he would kowtow to outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, his former boss in Malacañang.

?Watch me ... everything I say now will just be words. You have to wait, you have to watch what I?ll do. Don?t judge me now,? Corona said at a news conference at the Supreme Court after Ms Arroyo swore him into office in a Palace ceremony where members of the media were kept away.

The 62-year-old jurist and successor to Reynato Puno fended off questions about his closeness to Ms Arroyo and his supposed rift with Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, his rival for the top post.

He also played down suggestions that his assumption to office would provoke a constitutional crisis in the face of Aquino?s statement he would not recognize a Chief Justice appointed by Ms Arroyo because of a constitutional prohibition against the President making appointments two months before an election and until the end of his/her term.

Aquino also warned that anyone accepting Ms Arroyo?s appointment as Chief Justice ?risks even his presence in the court as an associate member.?

Asked about threats to impeach him, Corona said: ?I will react if there is already an impeachment case filed against me... I am not even bothered by that because I stand on a very strong, solid legal ground so I?m not worried.?

He said he was not sure if Aquino?s public statements on the Chief Justice appointment controversy were mere ?political saber-rattling.?

Queried on whether his acceptance of the post would spark a constitutional crisis, Corona said: ?It could but it?s also possible that it may not also provoke a constitutional crisis. We don?t know the extent of this political saber-rattling. All I know is that I?ve been appointed to this job and I?ll assume the responsibilities as Chief Justice.?

Aquino prerogative

?It is not correct, it is not right for the Chief Justice to comment on political statements,? he added.

Despite a possible snub by Aquino, who said he might take his oath of office as president before a barangay (village) chair, instead of before a Chief Justice as most other presidents did, Corona said that was Aquino?s prerogative.

?The Constitution does not require the president-elect to take his oath before the Chief Justice. I have no problem with that if that is the prerogative of the president,? he said.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the constitutional prohibition against so-called ?midnight appointments? does not cover the high court.

Some legal stalwarts, including members of the 1986 Constitutional Commission that drafted the Constitution, however, have questioned the high court?s ruling.

With Puno?s retirement, the Supreme Court is left with 14 justices?all appointees of Ms Arroyo. This has earned the tribunal the label of being an ?Arroyo court.? One court seat is vacant as a result of Puno?s departure.

Political noise

Corona also served as Ms Arroyo?s chief of staff and spokesperson before he was appointed to the Supreme Court on April 9, 2002.

As head of the high court, he will be the fourth in the line of presidential succession for the next eight years?a tenure surpassing even the term of the incoming Philippine president?until he retires on Oct. 15, 2018.

Corona brushed off moves for his impeachment.

?I didn?t expect everybody to like me. I didn?t expect everybody to agree with my appointment. It should not have been an issue. We shouldn?t give it much thought. Ganon lang yon (That?s how it is),? he said.

Corona said that ?there is always plenty of political noise and rumors? whenever there is a vacancy in the Supreme Court.

He insisted his ties with Ms Arroyo had not influenced his decisions as a justice, describing his relationship with her as a ?working relationship? and that of a ?boss to a subordinate.?

?In fact, whether you believe it or not, since my appointment to the Court I never talked to her. Maybe there were about two or three instances where there were official functions of the Court which she attended. I have to greet her but no conversation,? Corona said.

?It has never been a personal or a social relationship. There are some lawyers who are even closer, much closer than I am and I was to her,? he said.

No rift with Carpio

Corona declined to answer when asked if he would inhibit himself should any cases filed against Ms Arroyo reach the high court. He said he would wait until the cases had been filed.

He also denied that the justices were swayed into overturning a 1998 unanimous doctrine that an outgoing president could not appoint vacancies in the courts two months before an election because they were choosing between him and Carpio as the next Chief Justice.

?Let?s not talk about subjectivity, this is non-issue to me. I?m only talking of what is legal and what is constitutional. As far as I?m concerned, we complied with all the requirement of the Constitution and that?s where we are now,? he said.

While he also denied that he and Carpio did not see eye to eye, Corona also let it slip that Carpio had not congratulated him.

?I?m sure secretly,? he said, adding he enjoys a 44-year friendship with Carpio since their college days at Ateneo de Manila University.

Priority as CJ

He admitted that he never entertained the idea of turning down Ms Arroyo?s appointment.

?Doubts? No, no,? he said.

Corona said he would prioritize reducing the backlog of cases in the judiciary.

In a written statement, he said he swore upon his parents? name that he would deliver justice. ?My heart is in the right place and its loyalty is to the Constitution alone,? he said.

For Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the controversy regarding the installation of Corona was a ?closed? matter.

The controversy had been ?laid to rest under the doctrine of res judicata, meaning it can no longer be relitigated in court, because it has already been decided with finality,? Santiago said.

She also said it would be ?naïve? for one to think that the appointment process was ?not politicized,? saying that American presidents ?have emphasized partisan and political motivations and have relied on personal relationships? in appointing justices in the US Supreme Court. With a report from Christine O. Avendaño