SC magistrate wants public to report any case of ‘justice for sale’

MANILA,  Philippines — Supreme Court Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. has encouraged the public to come forward and report any incident of “justice for sale.”

According to Reyes, there must be a complainant because “we cannot do much if we just act on hearsay.”

“I urge the public to come out and complain,” Reyes said.

Reyes is one of the candidates for the top Supreme Court post. He said that if he would be given a chance to become chief justice of the high court, he will regularly go around to talk to people to get a grasp of what is happening like what he used to do when he was Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals.

“If I become the head of the Judiciary, I will be going around the country talking to the judges, court personnel, litigants, and lawyers to get a grasp of what is really happening down there,” Reyes said during the public interview by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Wednesday.

Reyes is currently the seventh most senior justice of the Supreme Court. He became an applicant to the chief justice post after accepting his automatic nomination. 

Four candidates are vying to become the next Supreme Court chief justice, a post that will become vacant upon the retirement of Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin who would turn 70 years old on October 18. /kga

RELATED STORY

Know your next chief justice: Four candidates vie for SC top post