Palace to answer solgen’s petition

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang will respond to the petition filed by Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza questioning his exclusion from the list of nominees for associate justice of the Supreme Court (SC), a Palace official said yesterday.

The SC has ordered the Judicial and Bar Council, including Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as its ex-officio chairman, and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. to answer the petition for certiorari or review.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) will still reply for the executive branch even if the petition was filed by its own head.

“This petition is personal to Solicitor General Jardeleza, but the OSG is there as an institution. It will be the one to answer for Executive Secretary (Ochoa),” Valte said on dzRB.

Jardeleza sought a temporary restraining order as he accused the JBC of violating his constitutional right to due process when it excluded his name from the shortlist of nominees to the post vacated by retired Associate Justice Roberto Abad.

He said this constituted grave abuse of discretion on the part of the JBC.

Jardeleza said he was not informed of the basis of the accusation against his integrity made by Sereno, which he said violated the JBC rules.

He reiterated that Sereno should not be allowed to participate in the final deliberation, saying “she would be acting as an accuser and a judge.”

The nominees are Commission on Audit chief Grace Pulido-Tan, Court of Appeals Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas and Jose Reyes and Quezon City regional trial court Judge Reynaldo Daway.

Pulido-Tan got five votes. Bruselas and Reyes received six votes each.

Daway received four votes from the panel. Jardeleza, who managed to get the same number of votes, was excluded from the list.