Jardeleza testifies on JBC shortlist issue

SC Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza. Noy Morcoso/Inquirer.net

Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza questioned the integrity of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno when he was supposedly stripped of due process after he was excluded from the Judicial and Bar Council shortlist three years ago.

At the House committee on justice’s hearing on the impeachment case filed against the Chief Justice on Monday, Jardeleza brought up how he was bumped off from the JBC shortlist to replace then retiring Associate Justice Antonio Abad.

After his public interview for the Associate Justice position, then solicitor general Jardeleza was informed that Sereno questioned his integrity due to his stance in handling the West Philippine Sea arbitration case.

A series of articles released by Manila Times’ Jomar Canlas came out a few days later, detailing Sereno’s exclusion of Jardeleza on the JBC shortlist, based on multiple Supreme Court insiders.

“Believing the CJ’s acts during the JBC meetings as reported by these articles wherein violation of my rights to due process, a violation of the JBC’s own rules were all made in grave abuse of discretion,” he said.

This prompted Jardeleza to make a letter petition to the Supreme Court on June 25, 2014, asking to direct the JBC to provide the written notice of the sworn specifications of the charges against him, together with the sworn statements of witnesses and supporting documents; to cross examine the witnesses in public; to reset the JBC hearing on June 30; and to direct the JBC to disallow the CJ from participating for the position vacated by Justice Abad.

But despite the urgency of the petition, he claimed his case was raffled only on July 1, a day after he was summoned by Sereno.

The list of JBC’s shortlist came out June 30, but it did not contain Jardeleza’s name. It was forwarded to the President on the same day.

Also in the same day, Supreme Court spokesperson Ted Te revealed that one nominee did not make it to the shortlist due to integrity issues.

Jardeleza said he was later told by now retired Associate Justice Arturo Brion that he received the same number of votes gathered by Judge Daway, who made it to the shortlist, while he did not.

Brion claims that the process was “manipulated.”