Supreme Court holds first online retirement rites as Justice Reyes bows out

Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. retired on Monday at 70 years old, the first magistrate to be honored in online retirement rites amid quarantine and physical distancing rules brought on by COVID-19.

The SC held a private retirement ceremony for Reyes through videoconferencing last Friday, weeks after holding their first virtual en banc session to discuss a petition for the release of vulnerable detainees during the pandemic.

Reyes is a third generation justice, being the son of former Court of Appeals presiding justice Andres Reyes Sr., and the grandson of CA and later SC justice Alex Reyes Sr.

He became a trial judge in 1987, a CA justice in 1999, presiding justice of the appellate court in 2010, and was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the highest Philippine court in 2017.

Reyes applied for chief justice three times and was shortlisted twice.

Thirteen individuals, most of them CA justices, applied to take Reyes' place in the SC and once again complete the SC's 15 seats.

The Judicial and Bar Council will hold online interviews of CA justices Nina Antonio-Valenzuela, Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla, Manuel Barrios, Ramon Bato Jr., Japar Dimaampao, Ricardo Rosario, Edwin Sorongon, and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang.

CA justices Ramon Cruz, Jhosep Lopez, Eduardo Peralta Jr., Pablito Perez, and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez also applied but still have valid interviews from previous applications. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News