Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Despite filing a legal reply to the Supreme Court defending Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza against the Judicial and Bar Council’s (JBC) selection process that rejected Jardeleza, Malacañang on Thursday said this was not an indication that President Aquino wanted to appoint the government’s chief legal counsel to the high tribunal.
“I think the Executive Secretary’s office was simply complying with the lawful order of the Supreme Court to give a comment, and the comment was on the issues that were raised regarding the selection process of the JBC. I don’t think that the purpose of the comment was to indirectly indicate any preference for any nominee,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. told a news briefing.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa is a respondent in the petition against the JBC that Jardeleza filed in the Supreme Court. Jardeleza wants to have his name included in the short list of nominees to fill the vacancy in the court left by the retirement last May of Associate Justice Roberto Abad.
The President has only until Aug. 21 to name a new associate justice as the Constitution mandates that the vacancy has to be filled within three months.
Issue of integrity
Even though he received the required minimum four votes, Jardeleza was not included in the short list of nominees that the JBC submitted to Malacañang, because of an issue of integrity that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno raised against Jardeleza.
In its comment to Jardeleza’s petition, the JBC said that the integrity issue involved a case that was “very important to the Republic,” but did not give any details.
Ochoa, as the President’s alter ego, was impleaded in Jardeleza’s petition which asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order against the Chief Executive from appointing an associate justice.
In his comment to Jardeleza’s petition, Ochoa defended Jardeleza, urging the JBC to include Jardeleza’s name in the short list and declare unconstitutional the integrity rule of the JBC.
Coloma said he was unaware if President Aquino had ever tried to find out from Jardeleza what the integrity issue was raised against him by the JBC.
“What I know is that the President has had meetings with the Solicitor General when the SolGen was involved in preparing the motion for reconsideration [of the Supreme Court decision outlawing the Disbursement Acceleration Program]. That is the latest that I know about their possible interaction,” Coloma said.–Nikko Dizon