Palace says Bersamin, Carandang are ‘best and the brightest’

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo. INQUIRER file photo

Malacañang on Wednesday said newly-appointed Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin and Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang belong to what President Rodrigo Duterte calls “the best and the brightest.”

“Both Justices belong to what PRRD calls ‘the best and the brightest’ as Chief Justice Bersamin placed 9th in the 1973 Bar Examinations while Associate Justice Carandang also claimed the same spot in the 1975 Bar Examinations,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo made the statement after Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra  announced the appointment of the two.

READ: Duterte appoints Bersamin as 25th Chief Justice

The Palace official also claimed that Bersamin is “presently the most senior Justice in the Supreme Court in terms of services rendered.”

“He served nearly 17 years as the Presiding Judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, over six years as Associate Justice at the Court of Appeals, and close to 10 years as the 163rd magistrate of the Supreme Court,” he said.

The President selected Bersamin over acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Andres Reyes Jr.

Carpio, at 68, is the most senior sitting magistrate in the High Court and is now on his 17th year in the high tribunal. Preceded to him was Peralta who was appointed at the SC in January 2009.

Meanwhile, Bersamin, 69, is the third most senior justice of the Supreme Court. He was appointed at the SC in April 2009. He graduated from the University of the East College of Law and placed 9th in the 1973 Bar exam.

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Panelo further said that the Palace is confident that Bersamin and Carandang “will continue to uphold judicial excellence, assert its independence and stand firm against erring members of the bench, the bar and court personnel as they lead the third branch of the government.” /jpv