4 chief justice aspirants will be disqualified — lawmaker

Rep. Edcel Lagman PHOTO by Gabriel Pabico Lalu/INQUIRER.net

Four candidates as next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will be disqualified because of the impeachment complaint filed against them, Representative Edcel Lagman said on Thursday.

“Under the rules of the JBC (Judicial Bar Council), an applicant who has a pending case is disqualified from being nominated or appointed to any position in the judiciary,” Lagman told reporters in a press briefing after they filed an impeachment complaint against associate justices who voted to oust former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

The lawmaker was referring to Justices Teresita de Castro, Andres Reyes Jr., Lucas Bersamin, and Diosdado Peralta who voted in favor of the quo warranto petition against Sereno.

“The impeachment complaints are even more than an administrative case,” he added.

READ: SC justices who ousted Sereno face impeachment complaints

According to Lagman, having one of the justices as head magistrate is dangerous as they have allegedly bowed to the requests of President Rodrigo Duterte.

He also said that the basis of the complaint was on the justices’ lack of independence, which a chief justice must have.

“Candidates for appointment in the judiciary must have independence. What we are saying is that the four aspiring justices for the position of CJ do not have independence […] because they surrendered to the Chief Executive through a Malacañang inspired quo warranto (petition),” he claimed.

Earlier, Lagman along with Representatives Gary Alejano and Teddy Baguilat, Jr. of the so-called “Magnificent 7” filed impeachment complaints against de Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Reyes, Francis Jardeleza, Alexander Gesmundo, and Noel Tijam.

On May 11, the SC voted 8-6, granting the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General against Sereno. It was the first time that a sitting Chief Justice was removed through a legal proceeding other than impeachment. /ee