5 applicants for CJ post

Four Supreme Court justices and a trial judge from Davao del Norte will be considered to replace ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno after the seven-member Judicial and Bar Council, which screens judicial applicants, closed the application period for the post on Thursday.

Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin accepted their automatic nomination as the most senior magistrates.

Retired Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Raoul Victorino had nominated all the 14 Supreme Court magistrates for Chief Justice with Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. the only one among the nine junior justices to accept the nomination.

Judge Virginia Tejano-Ang of the Tagum City Regional Trial Court Branch 1 in Davao del Norte applied for the post on Thursday.

Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio declined his automatic nomination, saying he did not want to benefit from Sereno’s ouster from the high court through a quo warranto petition.  — DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN