3 shortlisted for chief justice post
MANILA, Philippines — Three associate justices have made it to the shortlist for the next chief justice of the Philippines.
The Judicial and Bar Council released on Tuesday the shortlist for the next chief magistrate of Supreme Court which includes Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Andres Reyes Jr.
Only Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr. was excluded from the JBC shortlist.
Peralta and Bernabe topped the shortlist, both getting seven points. Andres Reyes got four points.
The four magistrates faced the JBC for a public interview on October 2.
Peralta, who is the most senior in terms of experience in the high court, asserted that he deserves to be the country’s next chief justice. An emotional Peralta told the JBC his work experiences “are more than enough to compensate with what they say that I do not deserve because I’m not a bar topnotcher or I’m not an honor student.”
Bernabe, meanwhile, said that chief justice is “not a position of superiority but an opportunity to lead the judiciary.” She was appointed to the high court in 2011 by former President Benigno Aquino III.
Reyes, who was appointed to the SC in 2017, said his honesty and fairness are his best assets as he made his third and last attempt to apply for chief justice.
Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, who has been with the Supreme Court for more than a decade, will retire on October 18.
The 1987 Constitutions mandates President Rodrigo Duterte to choose the next chief justice within 90 days of the vacancy. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
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