EDITORIAL - A new SC chief

Watch him, and don’t judge him this early, Renato Corona urged critics yesterday, hours after he was sworn in as the country’s 23rd chief justice. Corona, in a rare press conference, said he is his own person and will do nothing that can be construed as paying back a debt of gratitude to his former boss who has appointed him to the highest post in the judiciary.

Critics have not changed their view that the appointment, made even as a clear winner has emerged in the May 10 presidential race, violated the constitutional ban on midnight appointments. President Arroyo appointed Corona and he accepted it following a Supreme Court ruling that the ban, upheld for the judiciary in previous SC decisions, did not cover the high tribunal. Critics, including several lawyers’ groups, say the latest ruling effectively rewrote the Constitution to accommodate the designs of President Arroyo, who could face corruption charges once she loses her immunity from lawsuits.

Sen. Benigno Aquino III, who is waiting for his official proclamation as winner in the presidential race, plans to express his protest by taking his oath before someone other than Corona. The last time a chief justice was not asked to swear in a new president was in the twilight of the Marcos regime, when Aquino’s mother Corazon took her oath before then SC Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee.

Corona said yesterday he saw no problem with Aquino’s plan, and he was not troubled by reports that he could face impeachment for accepting his appointment. When the denouement of this story is written, the Supreme Court should emerge stronger, enjoying a level of public confidence that makes the tribunal deserving of its role as a court of last resort.

That confidence has been shaken by recent decisions that have earned the tribunal the moniker “the Arroyo court” – one whose members are perceived to be beholden to the appointing power. Dispelling that perception is just one of the many challenges facing Corona and the Supreme Court.