1962 SC ruling boosts Aquino plan

The legal advisers of President-elect Aquino have dug up a 1962 ruling of the Supreme Court to justify his plan to revoke the alleged “midnight appointments” made by his predecessor, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, involving as many as 300 positions including those with fixed term of office.

Sources in the Aquino camp said it was ironic that the Supreme Court ruling of January 19, 1962 upheld the decision of Mrs. Arroyo’s father, then President Diosdado Macapagal, who rescinded 350 midnight appointments issued by his immediate predecessor, the late President Carlos Garcia.

Even the appointment of public officials with fixed term of office issued by outgoing President Arroy can be revoked by President-elect Aquino if there are grounds that they were in the nature of midnight appointments prohibited by the Constitution, Senator Francis Pangilinan said on Thursday. The fact that most of these questionable appointments were issued within a few days before the ban on midnight appointments took effect on March 10 casts doubts on the legality of the same. He said such appointments were probably antedated to make it appear that there was no circumvention of the ban.

“Precisely because they are in the nature of midnight appointments, they are considered illegal and invalid even if the positions concerned have a fixed term. If the appointments were made during the prohibited period, these are still illegal appointments,” Pangilinan told the Kapihan sa Senado.

Senator Franklin Drilon, a ranking member of Aquino’s Liberal Party, said Mrs. Arroyo should have learned a lesson from her father, who refused to honor 350 midnight appointments issued by his predecessor. Macapagal was upheld by the high court in 1962 when it affirmed his order recalling the appointment of Dominador Aytona as central bank governor.

Pangilinan said he would advise Mr. Aquino to issue an executive order revoking all midnight appointments if the Arroyo appointees concerned would refuse to vacate their positions submit courtesy resignation upon the new president’s assumption of office on June 30.

Under the Constitution, officials occupying  positions with fixed term, whether in the executive, legislative or judicial branches of government, are entitled to security of tenure. They can be removed only for cause.

For example, members of the board of trustees of the Government Service Insurance enjoy a term of three years. The chairman and members of the board of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority have a term of seven years.

AQuino’s legal adviser found an ally in Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who said the new administration can revoke midnight appointments by initiating quo warranto proceedings in court.

“When you initiate quo warranto proceedings, that means you are questioning the legality of the appointment. You are asking the court to rule whether the appointment is correct or not,” Enrile told the Manila Standard.

Reports said as many as 300 midnights appointments were issued by Mrs. Arroyo.  Some 190 appointments were supposedly issued between March l and 9 alone.

In its 1962 decision, Drilon said, the Supreme Court ruled that the outgoing president should just act as a caretaker and should not tie the hands of the next president.

President Arroyo should have been guided by the action of her father on this issue. But she has done the opposite. She has tied the hands of her successor by issuing appointments whose effectivity will extend beyond her term,” he said.

Pangilinan said the best solution to the controversy is for all midnight appointees to resign after June 30.

If these are accepted, that is because it is really the prerogative of the new president to choose the people who enjoy his trust and confidence. On the other hand, if these are not accepted, that provides an opportunity for the officials concerned to continue with their good services,” he said.

However, Pangilinan said he has received information that Malacanang itself has advised the beneficiaries of Arroyo’s midnight appointments not to resign.

“I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of that information,” he said. As an extreme course of action, he said the new president can exercise the option to issue an executive order revoking all midnight appointments.

“Hopefully, we won’t have to do that. But that is my view. I don’t know what they have finally decided. But I think the least painful and least controversial solution is for all of them to submit their courtesy resignation.” –Fel Maragay, Manila Standard Today