A little caution on presidential appointments

The presidential prerogative to appoint Cabinet officials cannot be questioned in court. It is a political action and not a justiciable issue. Not even the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to overrule the chief executive on presidential choices. Under Article VII, Section 16 of the Philippine Constitution, the president has the exclusive power to appoint all heads of all executive agencies, all ambassadors, all public ministers, consuls, and officers of the armed forces from the ranks of colonel and naval captain to generals, admirals, and all officers of government whose appointments are not otherwise vested. The only check and balance is the role of the Commission on Appointments.

Yes, the president even appoints all justices of the Supreme Court, including the chief magistrate. He appoints all justices of the Court of Appeals, as well as the Court of Tax Appeals, including the Sandiganbayan, and their respective Presiding Justice. The president appoints all judges of all courts, including regional trial courts, municipal and city courts. He appoints the chairpersons and commissioners of the Commission on Elections, the Commission on Audit and the Civil Service Commission. He also appoints all the Labor arbiters and Commissioners of the National Labor Relations Commission, the Commission on Higher Education, the Human Rights Commission, the National Police Commission, and all other commissions.

The decision of the president is his and his alone. If he decides to put in office, even in sensitive offices, such characters as Mocha Uson,Aiza Seguerra, Charisse Pempengco, or Sandra Cam, that is his own lookout. If he appoints all retired military officials into his Cabinet, and makes his official family look like a military junta that is his prerogative. If he appointed Faeldon to the disaster office, despite the fact that he fired him not too long ago from the Customs Bureau, and notwithstanding the fact that Faeldon is being detained by the Senate for contempt, that is his call. No court, no agency can officially hold him to account for his decisions. But the people can.

If the president appoints all his friends from Davao, or elevates all his classmates from San Beda, or anoints all his brods from Lex Talliones Fraternity, that is his own business. Anyway, as proven by recent events, he is as quick to fire as he is fast to hire. But, since we love the president and we do not want him to lose his credibility, we hasten to offer an unsolicited advice. With all due respect, it is our humble opinion that he should exercise a little prudence and a little caution when appointing people to very sensitive posts. He should make his intelligence operatives conduct background investigations on probable appointees. This is to make sure that he would not need to fire his own appointees a short time after appointing them. And to make sure that he remains blameless in his crusade to rid the government of the corrupt, the inept, and the frequent junket travellers.