Palace announces new SC justice after 90 days

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has appointed Ruben Reyes as associate justice of the Supreme Court, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye announced on Wednesday. Reyes, former presiding justice of the Court of Appeals, replaced Romeo Callejo Jr at the high tribunal. Mrs Arroyo appointed him to the said CA post on December 23, 2005, and was sworn into office on January 3, 2006. Reyes’ appointment came after the Supreme Court warned that Mrs Arroyo might be courting an “impeachable offense" if found that she willfully withheld the appointment of the new associate justice. The Constitution mandates the President to fill up the post vacated by Callejo within 90 days or until July 28. Callejo retired last April 28 upon reaching the mandatory age of retirement of 70. "If there will be no forthcoming appointment and a considerable period of time has passed, then there might be a culpable violation of the Constitution. The Constitution doesn't want the court to be handicapped with only 14 justices," Court spokesman Atty. Jose Midas Marquez told reporters on Wednesday. Asked if the "considerable period of time" has made the President's non-appointment a culpable violation, Marquez said that it appeared that it was not the intent of Arroyo to violate the 90-day provision in the Constitution since she had previously appointed Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong to the post. He said only the Court may decide whether the President has committed a culpable violation of the Constitution, and only when a proper suit is filed before it. He said Congress, on its own, may determine whether it is tantamount to an impeachable offense. Reyes, who was born in Hagonoy, Bulacan on January 3, 1939, took up law at the Manuel L. Quezon University as a working student and scholar. He was appointed Regional Trial Court judge in Batangas and Manila before he became CA Associate Justice in March 1994. Reyes is president of the of the Philippine Association of Law Professors since 1994. President Arroyo appointed Ong as an associate justice of the high court last May 16, but questions on his citizenship prompted Malacañang to withdraw the appointment. After more than two months, Ong ended the controversy over his appointment to the Supreme Court by withdrawing his nomination. Bunye said on Saturday that Ong called up executive secretary Eduardo Ermita to inform him of his move. “Si Greg Ong ang personal tumawag sa kanya, July 25. Binanggit ni Justice Ong na personal na niyang wini-withdraw ang kanyang sarili (Ong personally called up Ermita and informed him he will withdraw his nomination)," Bunye said in an interview on government-run dzRB radio. Bunye said this was despite Ong’s having complied with the Supreme Court’s instruction to put the brouhaha involving his birth certificate in order. The high court ordered Ong earlier this month to “correct" the entries in his birth records. But Bunye said Ong, in withdrawing his nomination, told Ermita he did not want to be a stumbling block to the Palace’s work of filling up the high court. “Ayaw niya maging sagabal sa pangulo sa pagpuno sa Korte Suprema para makapag-function ang Supreme Court. Kaya kusang loob niyang winithdraw ang sarili from the nomination to give the president a free hand (He does not want to be a stumbling block to the filling up of the high court. He voluntarily withdrew from the nomination so the president will have a free hand)," he said. Bunye said Ong also thanked Arroyo for appointing him as an associate justice of the high court. - GMANews.TV