Chief justice railroaded appointment  of SC spokesman

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno of the Supreme Court (SC) has been accused by fellow justices of railroading the appointment of the high court’s spokesman and chief of its public information office (PIO).

Two of the most senior magistrates of the court questioned a document related to the appointment of Theodore Te as new chief of the SC-PIO.

According to a well-placed source of The Manila Times, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco questioned the administrative order drafted by Sereno for the appointment of Te.

The administrative order is supposed to be signed by the three chairmen of the three divisions of the high court. They are Sereno as chairman of the first division, Carpio as chairman of the second division and Velasco as chairman of the third division.

Carpio and Velasco asked that the appointment be decided by the court en banc.

The source said that the “wordings” of the document are erroneous because there is no such position as spokesman of the High Court and that the item given to Te was “Assistant Court Administrator.”

The position to be given to Te is supposed to be “PIO chief of the high court with a rank and salary of assistant court administrator.”

Carpio also discovered that Te’s appointment is on “secondment,” which happens when a government employee from one department is detailed or assigned to another department of government.

In the case of Te, he was working as a professor in the University of Philippines (UP) College of Law, which is under the Executive department.

Under the rules of the Civil Service Commission, there should be a memorandum of agreement between the seconding agency and the receiving agency. Hence, there should be an agreement first between UP and the court before Te can be appointed to any office in the High Tribunal.

“There is a conflict of interest in the appointment of Attorney Te. There should be an agreement first before he can assume [his post],” the source said.

According to a justice of the Supreme Court, the controversy over the appointment of Te will be raised to the court en banc.

“This issue will surely be raised to the court en banc to decide the case. Sereno is railroading again. She does not know what she is doing. Ano akala niya, hindi kami kikibo [What does she think, we will not speak up]?” a justice told the Times.

Te, for his part, told the Times that he is still waiting for the proper documentation and final approval of the court before he can assume office.

In November, justices also got mad with Sereno for opening a Regional Court Administration Office in Cebu City without authority from the en banc.

The court en banc revoked Sereno’s order.