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Wednesday, July 04, 2007
SC rejects Ong's appointment to high court
MANILA -- Supreme Court (SC) magistrates on Tuesday urged Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong not to accept an appointment to the high court until he has corrected his birth certificate stating he is a Chinese citizen.
The SC en banc, in a decision penned by Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, dashed all hopes for Ong to fill up the seat vacated by Associate Justice Romeo Callejo Sr. who retired last April 28 upon reaching 70.
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Voting 13-0, the tribunal granted the twin petitions filed by the groups Kilosbayan and Bantay Katarungan Foundations, led respectively by former Senate president Jovito Salonga and Attorney Emilio Capulong Jr., seeking to declare null and void Ong's appointment as the 15th member of the SC.
They said the appointment was "unconstitutional, arbitrary, whimsical, and issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction."
"Respondent Ong has the burden of proving in court his alleged ancestral tree as well as his citizenship under the time-line of three Constitutions. Until this is done, respondent cannot accept an appointment to this court, as that would be a violation of the Constitution. For this reason, he can be prevented by injunction from doing so," the high court ruled.
Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez was on leave and did not take part in the voting.
The high court did not give merit on the recognition of Ong's natural-born status by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), saying these agencies cannot amend the final decision of the trial court stating that Ong and his mother, Rita "Dy Guiok" Santos, were naturalized along with his father, Eugenio Ong Han Seng.
The SC further said a change or correction in an entry in a civil registry as substantial as a citizenship status cannot be made without a judicial order, citing Republic Act (RA) 9048, or the naturalization law.
Under Section 2 (3) of RA 9048, a summary administrative proceeding to correct clerical or typographical errors in a birth certificate cannot apply to a change in nationality.
"Substantial corrections to the nationality or citizenship of persons recorded in the civil registry should, therefore, be effected through a petition filed in court under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court," said the SC.
On May 16, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced the appointment of Ong to the SC from among eight nominees short-listed by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's consideration.
The next day, Malacañang held in abeyance Ong's appointment following questions relating to his citizenship.
The SC, however, said it was not clear if the Office of the President had cancelled Ong's appointment.
Invoking Article 8, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution, Kilosbayan and Bantay Katarungan filed a petition with the SC to block Ong's appointment, alleging that Ong is a Chinese citizen as stated in his birth certificate. The birth certificate further stated that both his parents were also Chinese citizens.
Under the Constitution, "No person shall be appointed member of the SC or any lower collegiate court unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines."
Section 2 of Article 4 further defines natural-born citizens as those who are "citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship."
In granting the petition, SC spokesman Attorney Jose Midas Marquez said Ong has to prove his natural-born Filipino citizenship through the proper adversarial court proceedings, since the DOJ preliminary hearing was merely administrative in nature.
Marquez said the SC did not touch on Ong's qualifications as Sandiganbayan justice since his appointment then was presumed to be valid.
As correction of birth certificates needs to go through a tedious court proceeding, Marquez said it was highly possible that Ong may no longer be in the running for the post, given the President's 90-day deadline or until July 28 to fill up the vacancy.
"It's possible that he won't be able to resolve that issue of correction before July 28. He still has to file a petition with the trial court and has to make publication requirements, although its possible that he might be able to make it when the next vacancy occurs in October with the retirement of Associate Justice Cancio Garcia, if he is still interested," he said.
Aside from Ong, other candidates for the post were Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita de Castro and Court of Appeals Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr., who each garnered seven votes from the eight-man JBC; CA Presiding Justice Ruben Reyes; Court of Tax Appeals Presiding Justice Ernesto Acosta; Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo Brion; CA Associate Justice Edgardo Cruz; and Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr.
Chief Justice Reynato Puno leads the JBC panel as concurrent JBC ex-officio chairman.
Other JBC ex-officio members are Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr., Senator Francis Pangilinan, Representative Simeon A. Datumanong, while the regular JBC members are Dean Amado L. Dimayuga, retired Court of Appeals Justice Regino C. Hermosisima Jr., Attorney J Conrado P. Castro, and retired Sandiganbayan Justice Raoul V. Victorino.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Malacañang respects the decision of the SC to reject Ong's appointment.
"While we are disappointed, we will certainly respect the decision of the Supreme Court," Bunye said. (ECV/JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pangasinan. (July 4, 2007 issue)
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