She may be the "Iron Lady" but she does not stand a ghost of a chance of being recommended by an old boys' club to be the country's next Chief Justice.

This was the dim prediction made yesterday by a leading member of the Senate vis a vis the nomination of the tart-tongued Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to the top post in the judiciary, which will be vacated by Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban when he retires on Dec. 7.

Santiago, a staunch ally and defender of President Macapagal-Arroyo, is thrilled at the possibility of making history by becoming the Philippines' first woman Chief Justice and the first outsider to head the judicial branch.

But according to a colleague in the Senate, "that will never happen because the [incumbent] justices will never allow that."

"Miriam and Malacañang know that she does not even have a 1-percent chance," said the senator, a lawyer.

He also said the Judicial and Bar Council, which screens nominations to the judiciary, was "influenced by the members of the Supreme Court."

Another ranking member of the Senate said that by gunning for the post of Chief Justice, Santiago was putting Ms Arroyo in a quandary: "The President will be placed between the devil and the deep blue sea in that situation. If she doesn't appoint Miriam, she loses an ally in the Senate. If she appoints Miriam, that will be resented in the Supreme Court, and I don't know what the consequences would be."

Both senators asked not to be named, and aired their comments in separate phone interviews.

JBC MEMBERS

Santiago will be up against Supreme Court Associate Justices Reynato Puno, Leonardo Quisumbing, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez and Antonio Carpio.

The 9-member JBC is expected to come up with a short list of three nominees to be submitted to the President for her choosing. (See In the Know.)

According to the Supreme Court website, the JBC is headed by the Chief Justice (Panganiban, ex-officio chair), with ex-officio members Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan and Rep. Simeon Datumanong (chair of the House justice committee) - all representatives of Congress - and clerk of court Ma. Luisa Villarama, ex-officio secretary.

Its regular members are a retired member of the Supreme Court (Justice Regino Hermosisima Jr.), a representative of the academe (Dean Amado Dimayuga), a representative of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (J. Conrado Castro), and a representative of the private sector (retired Justice Raoul Victorino).

Pangilinan and Datumanong share one vote.

But the first senator said the JBC, like an old boys' club, would not allow the appointment as Chief Justice of an outsider like Santiago.

"The possibility is very nil because the justices will oust her [from the list of nominees]. They will pick a chief justice from among themselves," he said.

The senator said Santiago was in the running only for its "propaganda value."

"She would pretend that she's very flattered, and she will go along with it for its propaganda value. Imagine being considered for Chief Justice," he said.

POLITICAL COLOR

Other senators said there was no question about Santiago's qualifications.

Sen. Richard Gordon said Santiago was obviously "more than qualified" for the post, except that her appointment could be viewed as a political accommodation.

"The question now is there is too much politics going on, and this might be perceived as having political color although we know that she is independent-minded," Gordon said in a dwIZ radio interview from New York.

Gordon, himself a lawyer, also noted that the people voted for Santiago to be a senator and not Chief Justice.

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson said in another dwIZ interview that the Senate's loss would be the judiciary's gain.

"There is no doubt that she is qualified. But she will really be a big loss to the Senate," Lacson said.

He said the chamber would be a pale version of itself without his feisty colleague: "Mawawalan ng kulay sa Senado kapag wala na si Madam Miriam (The Senate would be drab without Madam Miriam)."

Lacson also pointed out that the tradition of seniority in the choice of Chief Justice was broken when Panganiban was chosen over the more senior Associate Justice Reynato Puno.

He said it would be up to the JBC to decide whether it would be part of "history in the making" by favoring Santiago's nomination.

Better 'homegrown'

At the House, Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales said Chief Justice Panganiban's successor should come from within the Supreme Court.

The party-list lawmaker also said Santiago was too close to the President to be considered a candidate for the post.

"Wouldn't it be better to have a Chief Justice who is homegrown, or somebody who is already with the Supreme Court?" Rosales said, adding:

"Miriam thinks she's independent-and in some ways she is a maverick-but on very important issues, she has taken a position that is close to the administration.

"No matter how brilliant she is, she is not that independent."

Rosales raised the need for choosing justices of the high court based on a "merit system."

"We should look at his/her experience, previous record, and also seniority. The candidate should already know the practical exercise of being a justice in the court," she said.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez had this to say about the prospect of a Santiago court: "It would be the best of times and the worst of times if Madam Miriam becomes Chief Justice."

Asked to explain, Golez said: "Let my comment be as enigmatic and paradoxical as Miriam."

No law against outsiders

Santiago acknowledged on Friday that the issue of her being an outsider was expected to crop up. But she said there was no law restricting the choice of Chief Justice to the incumbent justices.

She said the insider-outsider notion was "very selfish" and promoted longevity or length of service over merit and fitness for the position.