Junior SC justice Reyes asserts court experience before JBC

Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Andres Reyes, Jr., the most junior incumbent to join the current round of chief justice applicants, on Thursday asserted his judicial experience in the face of questions on his capacity to lead a seniority-based court.

During his interview before the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) Thursday, Reyes said he hails from the "grassroots" of the judiciary, having occupied jurist posts in a Metropolitan Trial Court, a Regional Trial Court, the Court of Appeals, and eventually the SC.

"I would know all the four levels of the court," he told the JBC, particularly referencing his stint as CA presiding justice, even as he acknowledged all his co-applicants' qualification for the top judge post.

Reyes, 68, is President Rodrigo Duterte's third appointee to the High Court. He was named its 177th Associate Justice last year.

He accepted his nomination to the chief justice post by retired Sandiganbayan justice Raoul Victorino, who nominated all SC incumbents. He now competes with three more senior colleagues in the SC and a regional court judge to occupy the seat vacated by the ousted top judge Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Reyes was one of the eight justices who voted to grant the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida against Sereno.

When asked if he could assert himself before the SC, Reyes said: "The Supreme Court can only act as one. I have to defer to the majority will of the Supreme Court."

He also explained that his work ethic will augment his relative lack of experience in the SC.

"When I addressed this body last year, I promised the Court that I will work very hard and do justice for our people," he said. Since his appointment, he said he has disposed of more or less 900 cases.

He also said he will try to lead a court that is "functioning" and "harmonious." "Sometimes as a leader you have to be the follower. Sometimes as a leader you also have to lead by example," he said.

"What's important is you have a vision and you will go to that vision. Whether you make a left turn, right turn, go up and down, you're going towards that vision and that's important," he added. — BM, GMA News