De Castro vs Judicial and Board Council G.R. No.

191002

Facts:

This case is based on multiple cases filed on the controversy that begun with the forthcoming
retirement of Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno on May 17, 2010 which is 7 days after the Presidential Election.

There are two conflicting laws on filling up the vacancy to the position of Supreme Court Chief
Justice. Under section 15 article VII the Constitution prohibits the President or acting President from
making appointments immediately two months before the Presidential election up to the end of his term
except temporary appointment to executive position when continued vacancies therein will prejudice
public services or endanger the public safety. Also section 4 in relation to section 9 of article VIII states
that vacancies shall be filled 90 days for the occurrence thereof from a list of at least 3 nominees prepared
by the Judicial and Bar Council.

In its January 18, 2010 meeting en banc, therefore, the JBC passed a resolution, 15 which reads:
“The JBC, in its en banc meeting of January 18, 2010, unanimously agreed to start the process of filling
up the position of Chief Justice to be vacated on May 17, 2010 upon the retirement of the incumbent
Chief Justice Honorable Reynato S. Puno.

In February 8, 2010, the JBC resolve to proceed to the next step of announcing the names of the
following candidates to invite to the public to file their sworn complaint, written report, or opposition, if
any, not later than February 22, 2010

Although the JBC has already started the process of filling of the position of Chief Justice Puno,
they have yet to decide when they will submit the list to the President its list of nominees for the position
due to the controversy still not resolve.

Hence, the compiled cases the called for either the prohibition of the JBC to submit the short list
and the mandamus to for the JBC to submit the short list.

Issue:

Does the incumbent President have the power and authority to appoint during the election
ban the successor of Chief Justice Puno when he vacates the position of Chief Justice on his retirement
on May 17, 2010?

Held

Yes

The Prohibitions on the section 15 article VII does not apply on the appointments to fill the
vacancy in the Supreme Court or to other appointment to the Judiciary.

Had the framers intended to extend the prohibition contained in Section 15, Article VII to the
appointment of Members of the Supreme Court, they could have explicitly done so. They could not have
ignored the meticulous ordering of the provisions. They would have easily and surely written the
prohibition made explicit in Section 15 Article VII as being equally applicable to the appointment of
Members of the Supreme Court in Article VIII itself, most likely in Section 4 Article VIII. That such
specification was not done only reveals that the prohibition against the President or Acting President
making appointments within two months before the next presidential elections and up to the end of the
President’s or Acting President’s term does not refer to the Members of the Supreme Court.

Section 14, Section 15, and Section 16 are obviously of the same character, in that they affect the
power of the President to appoint. The fact that Section 14 and Section 16 refer only to appointments
within the Executive Department renders conclusive that Section 15 also applies only to the Executive
Department. This conclusion is consistent with the rule that every part of the statute must be interpreted
with reference to the context, i.e. that every part must be considered together with the other parts, and
kept subservient to the general intent of the whole enactment. It is absurd to assume that the framers
deliberately situated Section 15 between Section 14 and Section 16, if they intended Section 15 to cover
all kinds of presidential appointments. If that was their intention in respect of appointments to the
Judiciary, the framers, if only to be clear, would have easily and surely inserted a similar prohibition in
Article VIII, most likely within Section 4 thereof.