JBC disqualifies De Lima from CJ race

Purple S. Romero

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(3rd UPDATE) Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio leads the shortlist of 8 nominees for chief justice

(Senate file photo)

MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) – The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has disqualified Justice Secretary Leila de Lima from the chief justice race due to the disbarment complaints filed against her.

The council met today, Monday, August 13, to finalize its shortlist of nominees for chief justice to be submitted to President Benigno Aquino III, according to JBC member Rep Niel Tupas Jr. He said the list, dominated by 5 Court insiders and only 3 outsiders, will reach the President also today. (Read the JBC’s letter to President Aquino here.)

Leading the shortlist of 8 nominees is Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio (7 votes), followed by SC Justice Roberto Abad (6 votes); SC Justice Arturo Brion (6 votes); SC Justice Ma Lourdes Sereno (6 votes); Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza (6 votes); former San Juan Rep Ronaldo Zamora (6 votes); SC Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro (5 votes); and former Ateneo Law Dean Cesar Villanueva (5 votes).

Based on JBC rules, nominees who get at least 5 votes are automatically put on the shortlist.

All the 8 members of the JBC voted on Monday.

Senator Francis Escudero did not vote for Carpio, according to JBC insiders. Aside from Tupas and Escudero, the other council members are: SC Justice Diosdado Peralta (presiding officer); Palace Undersecretary Frederick Michael Musngi; De La Salle law professor Jose Mejia; Integrated Bar of the Philippines official Milagros Fernan-Cayosa; retired Court of Appeals Justice Aurora Lagman; and retired SC Justice Regino Hermosisima.

Of the 8 on the shortlist, two are appointees of the President: Sereno and Jardeleza. Of the 5 SC justices on the list, two — Abad and Brion (Justice De Castro was on leave then) — voted for the controversial temporary restraining order that would have allowed former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to leave the country in November last year. Justice Secretary De Lima defied that order. The order also caused the impeachment of Corona, who was removed from office on May 29.

President Aquino has until August 27 to make his final choice from the shortlist. He can, of course, return the shortlist to the JBC, but that would be following in the footsteps of her predecessor.

In 2010, then Chief Justice Reynato Puno held his ground when he led the JBC in sticking to its decision not to add candidates when then President Arroyo returned the shortlist to them.

Aquino convinced De Lima

The JBC decision on De Lima is a setback for President Aquino, who convinced De Lima to accept the nomination and deputized the Palace legal staff to sort out her legal problems in the selection process.

We reported on July 1 that the President managed to convince De Lima to accept the nomination in a brief meeting on June 29 in Malacañang. On July 1, De Lima announced she was accepting the nomination “after much reflection.” She also told reporters that she indeed met with the President on June 29.

De Lima was nominated in June, but she was not initially keen on the idea.

The council’s decision came following the ruling of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines ordering a full-blown investigation of the disbarment cases filed against De Lima. The complaints stem from her actions as justice secretary in relation to the cases against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and dismissed Chief Justice Renato Corona.

JBC rules disallow nominees with disbarment and administrative cases from seeking judiciary posts.

Musngi moved for the suspension of the rule on disbarment when the JBC met last Friday, August 10. But 3 members opposed the move, prompting the council to postpone till today its final decision.

Jardeleza faces a disbarment case, but Tupas said the case had no prima facie evidence for it to proceed. He did not elaborate. – Rappler.com


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