Supreme Court of the Philippines

WATCH: JBC interviews applicants for chief justice

Rappler.com
WATCH: JBC interviews applicants for chief justice
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:

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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