Aquino warns high court of blocking good governance efforts.

Byline: Ana Mae G. Roa and Nathaniel R. Melican

PRESIDENT BENIGNO C. Aquino III yesterday scored the Supreme Court (SC) for blocking efforts to weed out misfits in the government when it issued a stay order revoking alleged illegal appointments issued by his predecessor.

He said although the high court's stay order on Executive Order (EO) 2, which canceled so-called midnight appointments of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, applied only to National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Secretary Bai Omera D. Dianlan-Lucman, the ruling will have "far- reaching consequences" for similar cases.

The order meant that Ms. Lucman could stay pending a decision on her case. The official sought to junk EO 2 and the issuance of the stay order.

"The potential result of this will be chaos and paralysis in the Executive branch of government, as the legitimacy of officials appointed to replace those already removed will be cast in doubt," Mr. …