Davide wants Carpio nominated for chief justice

MANILA, Philippines — Former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr. expressed support for the automatic nomination of acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio for the top Supreme Court (SC) post.

In a letter to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) sent yesterday, Davide said Carpio should still be automatically nominated despite his reported decision not to accept any nomination.

“I pray that the JBC should not, in the highest interest of public service, give due course to the stand of acting Chief Justice Carpio. It should consider him a nominee of good standing despite and inspite of such stand,” Davide said.

The former chief justice said he hopes Carpio will reconsider his decision.

“He had earlier been bypassed twice. Delicadeza should no longer be invoked because the decision in the quo warranto case is final. It has become the law of the case,” he explained, referring to the decision of Carpio to decline nomination to the post vacated by Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was ousted through a quo warranto case.

Carpio voted against the ouster of Sereno, saying she could only be removed through impeachment. He explained it would not be proper for him to vie for the chief justice position because of his stand on the Sereno case.

“The vacancy is real and lawful. He was not responsible for its occurrence. Personal consideration must now yield to the demands of public interest and of the good of the service. He should not deprive the President… the opportunity for a wider field of choice for the best for the Supreme Court in particular and the judiciary and the people in general,” Davide added.

The STAR reported yesterday that three other senior justices – Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin – are expected to accept their automatic nomination for the top judicial post even if they voted for the ouster of Sereno.

Meanwhile, judges and court employees in the country have supported the nomination of Court Administrator Midas Marquez for associate justice in the SC.

The three major organization of judges in the country – Philippine Judges Association (PJA), Philippine Trial Judges League (PTJL) and Metropolitan and City Judges Association of the Philippines (MetCJAP) – endorsed the appointment of Marquez to the high court in separate letters sent recently to the JBC.

The Philippine Association of Court Employees (PACE) has submitted a similar letter to the JBC, backing the nomination of Marquez. 

The JBC has shortlisted Marquez for the SC post to be vacated by retirement of Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. in August after he obtained six votes.

The others in the shortlist were Court of Appeals Associate Justices Jose Reyes Jr., Amy Lazaro-Javier, Ramon Garcia, Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas, Rosmari Carandang and Ramon Hernando and former Ateneo law school dean Cesar Villanueva.

Marquez had testified in the impeachment cases against Sereno in the House of Representatives, along with several justices of the high court.