Retiring CJ keen on return to academe

With five weeks remaining before his early retirement on March 27, Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on Friday said he would devote his remaining time as head of the judiciary in institutionalizing much-needed judicial reforms to help curb the “recycling” of seized illegal drugs, expedite trials and make the courts more efficient amid the pandemic.

Speaking with reporters in Tarlac province, Peralta said he was looking forward to returning to the academe as law professor after he concludes his 34 years in government service on his 69th birthday on March 27.

The chief magistrate, however, still refused to reveal the reason behind his decision to leave the country’s highest judicial office exactly a year before reaching the mandatory retirement age for justices and judges.

“It is very hard to discuss it now because I still have more than a month and I still have a lot of things to do in the Supreme Court,” Peralta said after receiving his honorary doctor of laws degree from Tarlac State University.

“I think I did my best and I hope that [my successor] will continue the programs that I have started and will introduce other innovations so that there will be better access to the courts,” he said.