MANILA – Five Supreme Court justices, led by Antonio Carpio, have been shortlisted for the Chief Justice position that was vacated by the retirement of Teresita Leonardo-De Castro.
Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) ex-officio member Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that also listed are Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Andres Reyes Jr.
Among the five SC Chief Justice candidates, Carpio and Bersamin are scheduled to retire next year, Reyes in 2020, and Peralta and Bernabe in 2022.
The shortlist was made by the JBC after interviewing Carpio and Bernabe in a closed-door session on Friday. The three others was already interviewed before when they vie for the post vacated by sacked Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
“The list was already forwarded to the Office of the President and the President (Rodrigo Duterte) will have 90 days from the date of vacancy to choose the next chief justice,” Guevarra said.
The post was vacated due to the retirement of De Castro, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 on October 10. Duterte has until Jan. 10 to choose the next Chief Justice.
Carpio, Peralta, Bersamin and Bernabe were automatically nominated for being the most senior associate justice. Also nominated is Mariano del Castillo but he declined with him set to retire in May, 2019.
Associate Justice Reyes Jr., on the other hand, accepted the nomination of retired Sandiganbayan Justice Raoul Victorino, who has nominated all sitting high court justices./PN
