THE Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Thursday quizzed aspirants for the Chief Justice position on their financial and real-property assets, their views on judicial independence and current issues, as well as the programs they intend to implement in the Judiciary if appointed.
The public interview of the candidates—Supreme Court Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Andres Reyes Jr., and Regional Trial Court of Tagum City, Davao del Norte Branch 1 Presiding Judge Virginia Tejano-Ang —is a prerequisite before the JBC can come up with a shortlist of nominees for the post, for submission to President Duterte for consideration.
The post of Chief Justice became vacant after the Supreme Court ruled on May 11 to grant the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, seeking to nullify the appointment of Maria Lourdes A. Sereno to the post in 2012.
The SC decision ousting Sereno became final on June 19, 2018.
The President has 90 days to fill up vacancies in the Judiciary under the Constitution.
The members of the seven-man JBC panel who attended the public interview were Sen. Richard J. Gordon, who represents the Legislative department; retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza, who represents the retired justices; retired Judge Toribio Ilao, who represents the private sector; and lawyer Milagros Fernan-Cayosa, who represents the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
Also members of the panel, but absent during the interview, were Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio as ex-officio chairman; and Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra, an ex-officio member.
The JBC is constitutionally mandated to screen and vet the nominees to the President for vacant posts in the Judiciary and the offices of the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman.
De Castro: 2-month stint no problem
Associate Justice de Castro, during the public interview, was asked on whether she would be able to make a difference in terms of reforms in the Judiciary considering that she only has two months left before she retires from her post.
De Castro said she has embarked on several judicial reform programs since 2007, which she hoped to continue if she gets appointed as Chief Justice. She retires in October 2018, when she reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.
“I believe it [impending retirement] will not pose any problem because I’ve been working with my colleagues since 2007…. I’m optimistic that whatever proposal I will make in this short period of time will get the support of my colleagues,” she added.
If appointed, de Castro said she intends to review the case management information system, which allows parties to track the status of their cases.
She also plans to reorganize the ethics and ethical standard committee of the SC, which was organized during the time of the late Chief Justice Renato C. Corona but ceased to operate during the term of Sereno.
De Castro was also asked about her supposed real-estate properties in Manila, Laguna and Baguio, which she all denied. She said her only properties are in Parañaque and Katarungan Village in Muntinlupa.
Her husband is engaged in the business of leasing out real properties.
Before the SC, de Castro served as a law clerk in the SC, state counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ), and presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan.
She penned the ruling convicting former President Joseph E. Estrada for plunder during her stint in the Sandiganbayan.
In the SC, she penned the decision that declared Estrada eligible to run as mayor of Manila in 2015 after being pardoned by then-President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Bersamin: SC to stay independent
Justice Bersamin told the JBC panel that the SC has remained independent despite being considered a “political agency or body” for issuing policy statements that affect the country.
“There will always be pressure in the sense that we may be concerned about how the other branches of government would react to our decisions, but that is personal on the part of justices,” he added.
Bersamin brushed aside accusations he lacks delicadeza when he accepted the nomination for the CJ post despite being one of those who voted for Sereno’s ouster.
“The problem about delicadeza is that it has no definite rules. Even if I joined with the majority in granting the quo warranto, if I should inhibit from applying for this post, it is also but appropriate for those who voted in favor of Serento to also inhibit. It would not be fair if only those who came out against her would inhibit from this selection process,”
Bersamin said.
However, Bersamin noted that none of those who voted in favor of Sereno applied for the post.
Bersamin answered questions on the increase in his income based on his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN).
The JBC noted that Bersamin’s SALN has a “remarkable increase” of P2 million from 2014 to 2015; and P3 million from 2016 to 2017.
Bersamin said his SALN was a joint declaration with his wife.
“The jump in my SALN was caused by the cash deposit made by my wife,” Bersamin said.He said his wife is a businesswoman engaged in the sales and importation of high-end movie-making equipment.
His wife also invested in properties and she bought a condominium unit, which he only included in his SALN after it was fully paid.
Bersamin said his SALN included the allowances he received as member of the electoral tribunal and remuneration when he served as chairman of the Bar Committee in 2017.
Peralta: Marcos burial
The issue on the burial of the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani cropped up during the JBC’s interview with Justice Peralta, who wrote the decision allowing Marcos’s burial at the LNMB over the objections of victims of human-rights violations.
Asked by the panel whether the decision has really put closure between the Marcoses and the martial- law victims, Peralta replied: “I hope that issue has really been buried your honor, because if we do not bury that issue then we cannot move on and I still believe that whatever is the past, we have to move on. We will not improve as a nation if we don’t do that,” he said.
The JBC also questioned Peralta on the steady increase of his income based on his SALN. His SALN increased by more than P5 million from 2015 to 2017.
Peralta replied that his SALN was a joint declaration with his wife, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta.
His SALN also reflected the allowances he received as member of the electoral tribunal, and as chairman of the Bar Examination Committee in 2014.
Peralta said his declared income increased further when he received a lumpsum pension of more than P1 million from the Social Security System (SSS) after he reached the age of 65, for his work as a lawyer in the private sector and a law professor before joining the Judiciary.