De Lima accepts Chief Justice nomination

MANILA, Philippines - Taking on the challenge to lead the judiciary, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has accepted her nomination for the post of chief justice following a talk with President Aquino on Friday.

“I had a brief talk with the President wherein he said he will respect my decision to accept the nomination for chief justice,” De Lima said in a text message over the weekend.

She said she went through “deeper reflection and consultations with family and close confidants” before making the decision.

“What the judiciary needs is an effective and trusted leader. That, to me, is the call of the times. Amidst my initial hesitance and apprehensions, I now feel that I will be up to the challenge and will now take on the challenge. I’ll be honored to submit myself to the scrutiny of my peers at the JBC (Judicial and Bar Council) and the general public, for eventual consideration of the President,” she said in a statement.

“I sincerely believe that, at the minimum, I have my character and resolve as a person, and my track record and passion as a public servant, to offer for such a crucial and revered post,” she added.

De Lima said she would send her conforme to the JBC today, the deadline for application and nomination for the chief justice post.

Before making such decision, she went to her hometown in Bicol to consult her father, former elections commissioner Vicente de Lima.

“I was told by my father to follow the wishes of President Noy,” she recalled.

Pressed by reporters on her edge over other aspirants to the top SC post, De Lima said she would rather that other people talk about her qualifications.

Among the prominent candidates for chief justice, she has the most number of nominations received by the JBC.

She was endorsed by Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chairman Dante Jimenez; chairperson of the executive council of the Bangsamoro Party (BMP) and Lanao Sultan Firdausi Abbas; Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)- Zambales president Christopher Lawrence Monato, Civil Service assistant commissioner Rogelio Limare; former defense secretary Avelino Cruz; Court of Appeals Associate Justice Francisco Acosta, and lawyer Reynaldo Bagatsing.

Although she has no experience in the judiciary and is considered an “outsider” in the SC, the nominations cited her “utmost competence, diligence, probity and independence.”

President Aquino is reportedly considering appointing an outsider in the judiciary as the next chief justice.

Various sectors, however, have expressed opposition to possible appointment of a Cabinet member or someone closely identified with the President.

De Lima is among the trusted Cabinet members of Aquino.

De Lima is facing a disbarment complaint filed by lawyer Agustin Sundiam before the IBP for her public attacks against ousted chief justice Renato Corona before the impeachment trial started in December last year.

The JBC has yet to decide whether the case could lead to her disqualification from the post. But election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile earlier said that De Lima has the qualifications to become chief justice.

De Lima, 52, finished Bachelor of Laws in San Beda College and placed 8th in the 1985 Bar exams.

Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio had earlier said he would accept his nomination for chief justice.

Carpio was automatically nominated for chief justice along with four other most senior justices in the high tribunal: Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo Brion, and Diosdado Peralta.

Nine other SC magistrates were nominated: Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza, Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas-Bernabe.

Justices Brion and Abad have accepted their nomination. On the other hand, Del Castillo, Mendoza, Reyes and Bernabe have declined and instead endorsed more senior SC justices.

Carpio and De Lima, ex-officio chair and member of JBC, respectively have inhibited from the selection process.

As of Friday, the JBC has received a total of 14 conformes from aspirants accepting their nomination: SC Justices Brion and Abad, former UP law dean Raul Pangalangan, De La Salle University law founding dean Jose Manuel Diokno, University of the East law dean Amado Valdez, former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva, elections commissioner Rene Sarmiento, retired Judge Manuel Siayngco Jr., former executive secretary Ronaldo Zamora and lawyers Katrina Legarda, Soledad Cagampang - de Castro, Rafael Morales, Vicente Velasquez and Ferdinand Jose Pijao.

Sixteen have rejected their nomination: SC Justices Del Castillo, Mendoza, Reyes and Bernabe; Court of Appeals Justices Magdangal de Leon and Gabriel Ingles and retired CA presiding Justice Andres Reyes, Sandiganbayan presiding Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr., Bar topnotcher Gilberto Teodoro Jr., IBP national president Roan Libarios, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Laguna Assistant State Prosecutor Cesar Sasondoncillo, former senator Rene Saguisag and lawyers Pedro Aquino, Rodolfo Robles and Nepomuceno Aparis.