Still no takers for Chief Justice post

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has yet to receive an application to become the next Chief Justice, nearly a month after the country’s highest judicial post was officially declared vacant by the Supreme Court, two members of the JBC said on Sunday.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the body that screens nominees to judicial posts, confirmed that no one had submitted an application as Maria Lourdes Sereno’s possible successor.

Sereno was kicked out by her own colleagues in the high tribunal on May 11 for her failure to fully disclose her wealth.

Her predecessor, the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, was also ousted from office by the Senate impeachment court in 2012.

According to Guevarra, the JBC would still have to resolve the proposal to introduce a new personal date sheet (PDS) form for those seeking to become the next top jurist.

5 most senior members

“The PDS form is proposed to be modified to include a waiver of the bank accounts confidentiality rule,” the justice secretary told the Inquirer.

Lawyer Jose Mejia, a JBC regular member, said all five most senior members of the high court had yet to notify the JBC if they would decline or accept their automatic nomination for the position.

He said acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin must still write the JBC of their intention before the search ends on July 25.