Supreme Court to fete Chief Justice de Castro

WORK at the Supreme Court will be suspended from 12 noon today, Friday, because of the retirement ceremonies for Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.

The ceremonies will be held in the high court’s Session Hall at 3:30 p.m., the court’s public information office said.

De Castro was top magistrate for less than two months. She took her oath and assumed office on August 28.

Her term ends on October 10 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

De Castro was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as top magistrate on August 25, after the high court en banc voted to remove Ma. Lourdes Sereno as chief justice via quo warranto proceedings in June, for her failure to file the required number of yearly statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

Her “endo” appointment was met with criticism from opposition lawmakers, who claimed it was a “reward” from Duterte for voting in favor of ousting Sereno.

Duterte had publicly declared Sereno his “enemy.” In April, the President urged the high court to expedite the process of expelling Sereno from office after she accused him of “having a hand” in her ouster.

The Judicial and Bar Council began accepting applicants for chief justice on Monday. The application and nomination process will end on October 15.

De Castro served the judiciary for 45 years, according to the court’s website.

She first joined the high tribunal as law clerk in 1973. De Castro was appointed to the Department of Justice five years later.

De Castro was associate justice for over 11 years. Prior to that appointment, she was Sandiganbayan associate justice for seven years and presiding justice for three years.

De Castro studied at the University of the Philippines where she was a consistent scholar.

She finished law courses at the International Law Institute in Washington and Harvard Law School’s Program of Instruction for Lawyers.