The shortlist of candidates who could replace ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was transmitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to Malacañang immediately after its deliberations on Friday.
The JBC, also on Friday, selected the three most senior Associate Justices of the Supreme Court (SC), namely Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, and Lucas Bersamin, from among which President Rodrigo Duterte must choose the next Chief Justice of the country.
The transmittal letter was signed by SC Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the acting ex-officio chairman of the JBC, as well as ex-officio members, Senator Richard Gordon and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Under the rules, Mr. Duterte must pick his choice for SC chief within 90 days from the decision ousting Sereno became final.
The SC ruling that removed Sereno as top magistrate of the country became final on June 10 which means Duterte has to appoint the next Chief Justice no later than September 16.
Here are the profiles of the Top 3 candidates for Chief Justice of the high tribunal:
Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo De Castro
Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro
Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro is the second most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (SC).
She started her career as law clerk at the SC, and then moved to the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a state counsel. She was eventually appointed as Sandiganbayan Associate Justice and even became the graft court’s Presiding Justice.
At Sandiganbayan, De Castro authored the decision convicting former President Joseph Estrada of plunder. In 2015, De Castro penned the decision dismissing the disqualification case against Estrada, thereby upholding the eligibility of the former Chief Executive to run for mayor in Manila. Estrada is currently the mayor of the City of Manila, the country’s capital.
READ: Estrada stays as Manila Mayor as SC dismisses disqualification case
In 2008, De Castro authored the SCdecision that affirmed the executive privilege invoked by former socio-economic planning secretary Romulo Neri, who was tagged in the controversy surrounding the NBN-ZTE deal during the Arroyo administration.
It was also De Castro, being the justice in-charge on the case of the senior citizens’ party-list, who recommended that the Commission on Election (Comelec) be stopped from implementing its order disqualifying the Coalition of Senior Citizens in the Philippines. The decision became controversial after she accused then Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno of altering the “restraining order.”
READ: De Castro: Sereno ‘altered’ TRO that I recommended in 2013
De Castro graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1972 with a certificate of merit award for academic excellence.
She was also a consistent honor student: first honorable mention at St. Paul College when she graduated in high school and a cum laude from UP when she graduated in 1968.
Some of her awards include:
2009 Distinguished Alumni awardee in Championing Justice/Judiciary
2005 Awardee as Presiding Justice, Sandiganbayan, Chief Justice Davide Judicial Reform Award
2005 Awardee Women’s Lawyer Association of the Philippines
1998 Presidential Medal of Merit for Exceptionally Meritorious and Valuable Service Rendered and Remarkable Accomplishments
1981 Merit Awardee, Legal Staff, Department of Justice
But De Castro, if appointed Chief Justice, would have the shortest stint as top magistrate of the country – less than a month.
Born on October 10, 1948, De Castro will retire this year as she is set to reach the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Currently, the Chief Justice with the shortest stint was Pedro Yap with only 72 days.
Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta
Associate Justice Diosdado M. Peralta
Associate Justice Diosdado M. Peralta finished at the University of Santo Tomas. He is the youngest among the three aspirants. Born March 27, 1952, Peralta, if appointed, would serve until March 27, 2022 upon reaching 70 years old. He is the third most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (SC).
Like Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro, Peralta also rose from the ranks starting his career as a prosecutor of Manila. He then became a regional trial court judge in Quezon City before being promoted as Sandiganbayan Associate Justice.
He was known in the Quezon City court as a “hanging judge” for strictly imposing the death penalty. He was also the first to convict a government official for plunder.
At the Sandiganbayan, he was part of the division that convicted Estrada of plunder.
His noted decision at the SC is the 2016 ruling that allowed the burial of former strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
READ: SC OKs Marcos burial at Libingan
Peralta majored in Economics at Letran College.
Among the awards he received were:
2006 Ulirang Ama Awardee on Law and Judiciary;
2002 Judicial Excellence Awardee (Chief Justice Ramon Avanceña Award for Outstanding RTC Judge);
2001 Special Centennial Awardee given by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the Supreme Court;
1998 Outstanding Citizen of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte
1994 Most Outstanding Public Prosecutor of the City of Manila
1991 Outstanding Public Prosecutor of Manila.
Peralta is also a noted lecturer in Criminal Law.
Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin
Associate Justice Lucas P. Bersamin
Associate Justice Lucas P. Bersamin is the fourth most senior associate justice of the Supreme Court (SC). If appointed, Bersamin will retire in 2019 since he was born on October 18, 1949.
Bersamin finished law at the University of the East, He placed 9th in the 1973 Bar Exams.
In college, he took up Political Science at the University of the Philippines. Bersamin was class valedictorian in elementary and high school.
Bersamin was also a Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge in Quezon City. According to Associate Justice Diosdado M. Peralta, that was when their friendship started since they had adjacent courts.
From the Quezon City RTC, Bersamin was promoted Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals and eventually, the Supreme Court (SC) in 2009.
Bersamin wrote the landmark decision in the case of De Castro vs. Judicial and Bar Council that validated the appointment of then Associate Justice Renato Corona as Chief Justice. In the 2010 ruling, the high court said vacancies in the SC –the 14 Associate Justices and the Chief Justice – are not covered by the appointment ban under Section 15 Article VII of the 1987 Constitution.
Bersamin also penned the decision clearing former President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of plunder as well as the ruling that allowed former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile temporary liberty by posting bail.
READ: SC: Arroyo OK on fund release not ‘overt act’ of plunder
READ: SC grants Enrile bid for bail
Bersamin likewise authored the decision that declared the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds as unconstitutional. Part of the decision stated that the authors, proponents and implementers be held liable for DAP funds release.
READ: SC declares parts of DAP unconstitutional
Bersamin was the chairman of the 2017 Bar Examination. In 2008, he was a Bar examiner in Remedial Law.
The awards he received include:
2002 Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos Awardee for Judicial Excellence
2000 Best Decision Award in Civil Law
2000 Best Decision Award in Criminal Law
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