The Judicial and Bar Council on Thursday started vetting the five nominees aspiring for the most coveted post in the judiciary, which was left vacant following the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno through quo warranto proceedings.
The seven-member council led by Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio subjected the aspirants to questioning, including how they accumulated their high incomes as reflected in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
Supreme Court Associate Justices Lucas Bersamin and Diosdado Peralta attributed the increase in their incomes to their allowances and their wives’ incomes.
Besides Bersamin and Peralta, also vying for chief justice post are high court Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Andres Reyes Jr. and Judge Virginia Tejano-Ang of Tagum City, Davao del Norte Regional Trial Court Branch 1.
Maria Milagros N. Fernan-Cayosa, a JBC regular member representing the IBP, noted that Bersamin’s SALN had a “remarkable increase” of P2 million from 2014 to 2015, and by P3 million from 2016 to 2017. On the other hand, Peralta’s SALN increased by more than P5 million from 2015 to 2017.
Bersamin said his SALN was a joint declaration with his wife.
“The jump in my SALN was caused by the cash deposit made by my wife,” he said, noting that his wife is a businesswoman importing and selling high-end movie-making equipment.
“She deals with the government sporadically but I told her not to offer anything to the Supreme Court,” Bersamin said.
Peralta said he also submitted a joint declaration with his wife, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta.
Bersamin and Peralta added that they both receive allowances as members of the electoral tribunal.
Both justices also said they also receive remuneration when they became head of the Bar Examination Committee. Peralta was chairman of the Bar Committee in 2014 while Bersamin was chairman in 2017.
“Because of my Bar chairmanship, perhaps I will report another jump in my SALN next year,” Bersamin said.
Peralta said he also received a lump sum from the Social Security System after he reached the age of 65 because, before his entry to the judiciary, he was a lawyer in the private sector and a law professor.
He said the amount he received, which was more than P1 million, was also reflected in his SALN.
If he was named chief justice, Bersamin vowed to grant more powers to the JBC to avoid making appointment “mistakes” to the judiciary.
“The JBC will need a lot more muscle to look into the qualifications of aspirants for judicial positions,” Bersamin said.
Bersamin was among the eight high court magistrates who voted to nullify the appointment of Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice in May due to her alleged lack of qualification for the post.
“It seems to me that somehow there are still people who did not deserve [but] managed to be appointed to these positions,” Bersamin said.
While he did not elaborate on what additional powers he intended to give the JBC if appointed, Bersamin said the selection process needed to be improved.
` “There is no insurance to these kinds of mistakes. I do not ascribe that to the JBC. I rather ascribe that to the shortcomings of the pre-vetting process,” he said.
Bersamin also vowed to advocate judicial independence, saying a court’s independence was demonstrated by how it arrived at a decision in sensitive cases, such as the rulings declaring as unconstitutional the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the Priority Development Assistance Fund.
“There will always be pressure in the sense that we may be concerned about how the other branches of government would react to our decisions, but that is personal on the part of justices,” he said.
Bersamin also brushed aside the accusations he lacked of delicadeza when he accepted the nomination for the post of chief justice despite being one of those who voted for Sereno’s ouster.
De Castro was asked on whether she would be able to make a difference in terms of reforms and accomplishments in the judiciary considering that she only had two months left before she retired from her post.
She said she had embarked on several judicial reform programs since 2007, which she hoped to continue if she got appointed as Chief Justice.
De Castro, who is set to retire in October 2018 when she reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70, said: “I believe it will not pose any problem because I’ve been working with my colleague since 2007. From 2010, I’ve been the working chair of the First Division, so for a period of eight years I have worked with them and they’ve always supported my recommendation not only on judicial cases but also on administrative matters that I bring up to the Court. So I see no reason that I wont be getting their support,” De Castro said.
“I’m optimistic that whatever proposal I will make in this short period of time will get the support of my colleagues.”
Meanwhile, JBC has tapped the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to assist it in determining the fitness of those aspiring to be part of the judiciary.
Cayosa, a JBC regular member representing the IBP, said the JBC and IBP had inked a memorandum of agreement for a pillar assessment program.
In 2017 alone, Cayosa said, the JBC had processed over 15,000 applications with only 70 personnel to complement it.
According to Cayosa, with the memorandum of agreement, the IBP would help “determine the fitness of these applying for a regular post. The IBP is familiar with the work on judges.”
The IBP is the mandatory organization of lawyers with over 55,000 members, while the JBC is constitutionally mandated to screen applicants to enter the judiciary and the top Ombudsman positions. The JBC vets the names, comes up with a shortlist and submits it to Malacañang.