Why ‘toady’ is likely to be SC chief

This refers to the front-page June 11 Analysis of Amando Doronila who decried that President Aquino is about to appoint his own “toady” in lieu of the just-recently convicted chief justice (“P-Noy toady can’t be SC chief,” Inquirer, 6/11/12). How is that a “daang matuwid” when the very reason Chief Justice Renato Corona was removed from the Supreme Court would appear to be the same motivation tainting the appointment of his replacement? Indeed, it would be nothing more than a continuation of the same vicious cycle.
Never mind his unmitigated hatred toward P-Noy and his unabashed admiration for former President Arroyo who was perceived to have been running a kleptocracy; but what Doronila is pontificating on now is dead on: “The public expects a chief justice whose integrity and independence are beyond reproach to enjoy public trust.” But if Doronila is thinking that it is attainable under the protocol currently in place, he has another think coming! It is really commonsensical: What president would appoint someone who is “neutral” (read: not friendly) to his administration?
We sound like a broken record when we keep on repeating that the Constitution must be amended to remove from the Office of the President the power to
appoint judges and justices
(Inquirer, 1/14/08; 9/12/08; 11/15/08; etc.). We have outlined proposals on how that could be done. Many other letter-writers have done their share to drive home the point that we cannot continue copying what the US Constitution says. If such a system works for the Americans, bully for them. Evidently, it does not work for Filipinos, given our intensely unique sense of gratitude and loyalty.
The surer bet is, if push comes to shove, the Filipino magistrate will kowtow to the one he owes his honorific to. Had such amendments been pushed hard enough, we would never have to deal again with the annoyance and anguish of seeing a president pack the courts of the land with his/her own “toadies.”
—STEPHEN L. MONSANTO,
Monsanto Law Office,
Loyola Heights, Quezon City,
[email protected]