Rody urged to consider seniority in selecting CJ

President Duterte should consider seniority in the Supreme Court (SC) in appointing the next chief justice, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said yesterday.

Leonen, a known friend of ousted chief justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, admitted that he has had a change in opinion and now believes that the chief justice must be selected from among the senior magistrates of the SC.

“Before I came to the Court, I thought that it (seniority) was not (needed for a chief justice). But now that I have served close to six years in the SC, more and more I would think that seniority is a marker of something,” he said in an interview with ANC.

Leonen stressed that seniority is a “marker of experience” and “also a marker of a person who knows his or her colleagues.”

“Seniority is important because you mature as you are in a deliberative body. It is normal if you are new in a court, a collegiate court, that you will feel threatened if somebody disagrees with you. I think that’s normal but as you go along, you learn to sit back a little and listen and be able to discern the points,” he explained.

“A chief justice must be able to do that 10 times over. Ten times more than the colleagues,” he added.

The magistrate, who was an outsider in the judiciary when appointed to the SC, believed that the chief justice must be a “negotiator” and “a person that will find a middle ground.”

“The mark of a good chief justice, from my point of view, is the number of times that she or he gets a unanimous opinion, especially in controversial cases, because this would mean that he or she could’ve worked the many opinions that are on the table and found a middle ground. I think that is a good CJ,” he explained.

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has formally opened the selection process for the chief justice post last June 25 after the SC ruling ousting Sereno became final last June 19.

The five most senior magistrates of the SC – Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin – were automatically nominated for the top judicial post as provided by JBC rules.

Carpio has publicly declined the nomination, saying he does not want to benefit from the ouster of Sereno, which he had voted against.

Velasco is set to retire from the judiciary next month while De Castro, Peralta and Bersamin are expected to accept the nomination just to satisfy the requirement in the law for at least three nominees for the vacancy.

Leonen believes all five senior justices of the SC are qualified for the post.

“Justice Carpio has been there for more than a decade. Tess de Castro I’ve seen her work, I’ve seen the way that she works, she is a workhorse, she has a lot of good ideas. Justice Dado Peralta is one of the leading lights for continuous trials and speedy trial and he gets people to work together. Justice Luke Bersamin is also somebody that can get along well with colleagues, who has had the experience of working from the lower court to the Court,” Leonen said.

Leonen also denied that he is interested in the top judicial post following a report that he recently went to Davao City to meet the President.

Asked if he is aspiring to become chief justice, Leonen said: “No, because the work of a CJ requires some sort of a capacity or an attitude that right now I cannot imagine myself doing.”

The 1987 Constitution requires that the chief justice position be filled within 90 days from vacancy or from the finality of the SC ruling on June 19.

This means Duterte needs to appoint a chief justice by Sept. 16.

The Constitution also requires the chief justice, just like associate justices of SC, to be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years old, have experience as judge or in private law practice for at least 15 years, and be a person with proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.