SC Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin. (Photo by NOY MORCOSO / INQUIRET.net)
Supreme Court Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin has already accepted his automatic nomination for the Chief Justice position, which will become vacant upon the mandatory retirement of Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro next week.
Bersamin is the fourth most senior associate justice of the high court. He is the first candidate to accept the nomination.
By tradition, the five most senior justices of the SC are automatically nominated for chief justice. However, they will not be considered as an official candidate unless they accept the nomination.
The five most senior magistrates automatically nominated to replace De Castro, by order or seniority, are Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Bersamin, Mariano Del Castillo, and Estela Perlas-Bernabe. /kga