THREE appointees of former President now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the Supreme Court (SC) will be vying for the Chief Justice position that was left vacant following the ouster of former Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes A. Sereno.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, in a text message to reporters, confirmed that Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin has accepted his automatic nomination to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) for the Chief Justice post.
Bersamin, a former member of the Court of Appeals, was appointed in April 2, 2009 by then President Arroyo to the High Court. Prior to his CA post, he was the Presiding Judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 96.
He will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 in October 2019.
Bersamin was in private legal practice before he was appointed as RTC judge in November 1986.
Guevarra said Bersamin submitted his formal acceptance of the nomination on Tuesday in a letter submitted to the JBC.
Bersamin is one of the five associate justices of the SC who have been automatically nominated for the CJ post on the account of seniority.
The other nominees include acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, Presbitero Velasco Jr.,Teresita Leonardo de Castro and Diosdado Peralta.
Carpio has formally turned down his nomination in a letter submitted to the JBC on Monday.
Carpio expressed his disinterest to be appointed as Sereno’s replacement out of “delicadeza.” considering that he voted against the granting of the quo warranto petition.
“SC Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin has accepted his automatic nomination for the CJ post today (Tuesday),” Guevarra said.
Under the rules, while the five most senior justices are automatically nominated for the Chief Justice post, they still have to formally accept the nomination to be officially considered as nominee or applicant.
Guevarra also said Peralta has accepted his nomination on Wednesday afternoon
Bersamin and Peralta were among the six justices who were sought by Sereno to inhibit from participating in the deliberation of the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida which eventually was granted by the Court in a decision issued last May 11,
2018 which became final on June 19, 2018 that resulted to his ouster.
The quo warranto petition sought the nullification of Sereno’s appointment as Chief Justice for her failure to comply with the requirements to qualify for the position.
Sereno accused Bersamin, Peralta and four other associate justices, namely, De Castro, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam and Samuel Martires of being biased against her based on their participation in the impeachment hearings conducted by the House Committee on Justice.
Bersamin had accused Sereno of acting like a dictator in exercising her leadership over the court and violating the collegial nature of the SC when he testified during the House proceedings.
Peralta, on the other hand, expressed his view during the House hearing that Sereno should have been disqualified from nomination for the Chief Justice position due to her failure to submit to the JBC her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth for the years that she was employed as a professor of the University of the Philippines
Peralta was appointed by Arroyo to the SC on January 13, 2009.
Before his appointments to the SC, he served as Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice.
Peralta penned the controversial ruling allowing the burial of the late president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
He will retire in March 2022.
Meanwhile, Guevarra said Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr., applied for the CJ post.
It can be recalled that retired Sandiganbayan Justice and former JBC Member Raoul Victorino nominated all incumbent SC justices for the CJ post.
“With reference to former Justice Victorino’s omnibus nomination of all 14 justices, you may view Justice Reyes’ application as indeed an acceptance of a nomination,” Guevarra said.
Reyes was an appointee of President Duterte.
Before his appointment to the SC, Reyes served as presiding justice of the Court of Appeals.
Reyes recently penned a ruling declaring as unconstitutional then Justice Secretary Leila De Lima’s Department Order 41, which authorizes the secretary of justice to issue Hold Departure Orders (HDO), Watch List Orders (WLO), or Allow Departure Orders (ADO).
The circular was used as basis of by Leila de Lima in imposing a travel ban against Arroyo and her husband Miguel Arroyo pending the resolutions of the plunder and electoral sabotage charges filed against them.
De Castro, another appointee of Arroyo, is also expected to formally accept her nomination for the CJ post once she completed all the requirements mandated by the JBC.
De Castro is the third most senior justice of the SC.
Prior to her appointment to the SC, De Castro served as a law clerk in the SC, state counsel for the DOJ, and presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan.
De Castro penned the ruling convicting former President Joseph Estrada for plunder during her stint in the Sandiganbayan.
In the SC, she was also the magistrate who penned the decision that declared Estrada eligible to run as mayor of Manila in 2015.
De Castro, in her ponencia, held that although Estrada was convicted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan, the pardon subsequently granted to him by then President Arroyo restored his civil and political rights.
De Castro is set to retire from the SC in October 2018, when she reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.
