2 lawyers named new election commissioners
By Matikas Santos
Two lawyers have been appointed by President Benigno Aquino III to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Thursday.
Two lawyers have been appointed by President Benigno Aquino III to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Thursday.
Days after reporting that the country’s economy grew by 6.6 percent in 2012, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on Wednesday got his confirmation by the bicameral Commission on Appointments, something a few other members of President Aquino’s Cabinet have been wanting since 2010.
President Benigno Aquino III hopes to beat the Nov. 22 deadline for filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court by a full day, saying he intends to transmit his decision to the high tribunal by Wednesday afternoon.
He may be deep in training in the United States for his fourth bout with Mexican archrival Juan Manuel Marquez in December. But Manny Pacquiao, the congressman, is waging another battle at home.
For as long as Environment Secretary Ramon Paje fails to explain what a “special ores extraction permit” (SOEP) is and what its legal basis is, Zamboanga del Sur Governor Antonio Cerilles said he will do everything he can to prevent his confirmation by the Commission on Appointments.
Undersecretary Rico Puno of the Department of the Interior and Local Governments has no problem working with newly appointed Interior and Local Governments Secretary Mar Roxas.
President Benigno Aquino has appointed a Malacañang undersecretary to temporarily take the place of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima on the Judicial and Bar Council as the body draws up a short list from which the Chief Executive is to choose the next chief justice.
Philippine National Police Director General Nicanor Bartolome refuses to be drawn into intrigue over rumors that Senator Panfilo Lacson may take over as interior secretary, a post that comes with supervisory powers over the police force.
Francisco Chavez, who served as solicitor general under the late President Corazon Aquino, was nominated on Thursday as a possible replacement for ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.
The decision of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to require all aspirants for the post of Chief Justice to waive the confidentiality of their bank accounts is unconstitutional because it imposes something not found in the Constitution, a lawyer said Tuesday.
President Benigno Aquino has brought up the names of the two toughest women in his administration in discussions on the next chief justice of the Supreme Court following the removal from the post by impeachment of Renato Corona.
President Benigno Aquino III said Friday he is not bound by law or tradition to choose the next chief justice from among the incumbent members of the high court. In addition, he did not relish the idea of having to pick a chief justice from a group that had kept their financial statements away from public scrutiny.
President Beningo Aquino has appointed Gerard Mosquera, a member of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, as deputy ombudsman for Luzon, Palace documents released Friday show.
