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MANILA – Five Supreme Court justices are vying for the position of Chief Justice, a member of the Judicial and Bar Council announced.
Antonio Carpio – the acting chief justice – Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Andres Reyes Jr. have accepted their nominations.
“No additional contestants for the CJ (chief justice) position,” said JBC member and Justice secretary Menardo Guevarra.
“There are only five applicants after the lapse of the deadline for the submission of nominations and applications (on Friday afternoon),” he said.
The chief justice post was left vacant following the retirement of Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.
Bersamin, Peralta, Carpio, and Bernabe were automatically nominated for being senior associate justices.
Mariano del Castillo was nominated, too, but he declined as he was set to retire in May 2019.
Reyes accepted the nomination of retired Sandiganbayan Justice Raoul Victorino, who nominated all sitting high court justices.
The JBC will now proceed to the closed-door interview of Carpio and Bernabe only, Guevarra said.
Bersamin, Peralta and Reyes were already interviewed when they vied for the chief magistrate position after the ouster of then Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno via quo warranto.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Court chief justice post must be filled within 90 days after a vacancy.
Per procedure, the JBC will send a shortlist to the president, who will appoint the chief magistrate./PN
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