DOJ chief: Women are on list for highest judiciary post

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL FILE PHOTO

Whether he likes it or not, President Rodrigo Duterte should expect women aspirants as a possible successor of ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Sunday said that the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) would soon present to the President a list of candidates to the post vacated by Sereno after the Supreme Court affirmed her ouster last week.

Search open

The JBC, the body tasked by the 1987 Constitution with screening candidates for judicial posts, is expected to officially open the search for the next top magistrate in its regular meeting on Monday, Guevarra said.

The justice secretary sits in the seven-member body.

The President, who has been widely criticized for his misogynist remarks, earlier said he would not want another woman to head the judiciary.

Asked if the JBC would exclude women from applying for the highest judicial office, Guevarra said: “The JBC will submit to the President a list of applicants, men and women alike.”

“Once on the President’s desk, it’s completely up to him [to choose the next Chief Justice],” he told the Inquirer in a text message.

Based on merits

The justice secretary said the selection for Sereno’s successor would be “based on merits and qualifications, and in accordance with the JBC rules.”

The requirements for a position in the judiciary are clear; one has to be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines and should possess “proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.”

Those aspiring to become a member Supreme Court should also be at least 40 years old, a judge of a lower court or had been engaged in the practice of law in the country.

The JBC rules do not bar women from applying for Chief Justice. —Marlon Ramos