Interviews will take place from 9 am to 5 pm on Friday, March 12
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) interviews on Friday, March 12, the 3 applicants for chief justice who will be replacing Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta.
The applicants are:
- Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas Bernabe
- Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo
- Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando
Here are articles we prepared for you to get to know the applicants and the importance of this process:
- EXPLAINER: New chief justice is Duterte’s next test, pivotal for SC
- #CJSearch: Quick review of chief justice applicants’ judicial principles
Here are some other tidbits:
- The reason why Duterte gets to pick a new chief justice is because CJ Diosdado Peralta chose to retire one year early. To date, Peralta has not said the reason why.
- Duterte has made a habit of appointing young justices to the Supreme Court, meaning his picks will serve beyond his term. This is called “packing the Court,” which Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also did in her time.
- By 2022, only two justices on the Court are non-Duterte appointees. They are Justices Marvic Leonen and Benjamin Caguioa, who will stay on until 2032 and 2029 respectively, barring quo warranto, impeachment or resignation.
- The 3 chief justice applicants often voted in favor of Duterte’s interest. Justice Bernabe, however, dissented twice – to the De Lima arrest ruling and Sereno ouster.
- Justice Bernabe calls herself a textualist, but she has proven to be unpredictable on the bench.
- Justice Gesmundo has only been in the Supreme Court for three years, but he has served as Sandiganbayan justice for 12 years.
- Justice Hernando has the San Beda connection out of all the 3 applicants for chief justice. Hernando showed his progressive side when he favored the scrapping of a civil code provision differentiating a legitimate child and an illegitimate child.
- The chief justice may be the top magistrate, but he or she is only first among equals. What kind of influence does a chief justice have?
- Take a look at Bernabe’s voting history in this story.
– Rappler.com
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