Five justices in shortlist for next chief justice
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 5:50 p.m.) — Five Supreme Court justices made it to the shortlist to become the next chief justice, said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Friday.
Guevarra, a member of the Judicial and Bar Council by virtue of his position, said that Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Esleta Perlas-Bernabe all received six votes from the JBC.
Meanwhile, Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. received five votes.
The voting came following the closed-door interviews conducted by the JBC earlier on Friday.
Guevarra said that the shortlist will be transmitted to the Office of the President “before the day is over.”
The top judge post has been vacant since the retirement of former Chief Justice Teresita De Castro last October.
The Constitution provides that a vacancy in the SC should be filled within 90 days. This means President Rodrigo Duterte has until January 8 to appoint De Castro’s successor.
The Constitution also requires the chief justice, just like the associate justices, to be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years old, with experience as judge or in private law practice for at least 15 years and a person with proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.
Seniority?
When Duterte appointed De Castro as chief justice, the president said that he was following the court’s tradition of seniority.
"Whoever goes first will be promoted first amd that would go for everybody," Duterte told reporters in an ambush interview after the National Heroes' Day rites in Taguig City last August.
De Castro, at that time, was the most senior justice in the shortlist which included Peralta and Bersamin.
Among the five justices named in the shortlist, Carpio has the longest experience in serving the SC, having been its member since 2001.
Carpio, an advocate on the maritime dispute, has often been at odds with Duterte, who opted to adopt a friendlier stance with China on the matter.
More appointees
Duterte is expected to name more than 10 justices in his six-year term.
In January, Associate Justice Noel Tijam—his third appointee to the SC—will reach the mandatory age of requirement.
Duterte is expected to name Tijam’s successor, as well as the post vacated by De Castro when she was promoted to chief justice next year.
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