JBC opens applications for chief justice

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has opened applications for chief justice in anticipation of the early retirement of Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta in March.

Applicants may submit their applications and documentary requirements until February 15, the JBC said.

Peralta will step down from the Supreme Court (SC) on his 69th birthday on March 27, one year ahead of the mandatory retirement age for judges and justices.

The SC earlier confirmed that Peralta is retiring early but did not disclose the reason.

President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Peralta as chief justice in October 2019. Peralta had been an associate justice of the High Court since 2009.

Whoever will succeed Peralta will be Duterte's fourth chief justice appointee in less than three years. Duterte previously named Teresita Leonardo-De Castro and Lucas Bersamin to the Philippines' highest judicial post.

When Peralta retires, the five most senior justices will be automatically nominated for the post, subject to their confirmation.

They are Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Marvic Leonen, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Alexander Gesmundo, and Ramon Paul Hernando.

In its revised rules that took effect last June, the JBC said it will consider applicants to the SC only if they have at least 2.5 to five years of service left before retirement.

The JBC said applicants for SC associate justice or chief justice should have at least 2.5 years left to serve if they have previously served as any of the following:

• associate justice or presiding justice of an appellate court;
• court administrator;
• chairperson of a constitutional commission;
• solicitor general; or
• department secretary

If they had not served any of these positions or are private practitioners, applicants should have at least five years left in service.

However, JBC member Jose Mendoza, a retired justice, said sitting associate justices of the SC who are applying for chief justice are "not contemplated" by this age limit.

The 1987 Constitution says members of the SC or any lower collegiate court must be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. SC justices must be at least 40 years old, must have been a judge of a lower court or practicing law in the country for at least 15 years.

The Constitution also says a member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News