Jardeleza wants Sereno out of JBC deliberation on SC vacancy

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) was asked yesterday to disqualify Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno from the final deliberations of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) for the shortlist on the lone vacancy in the high court after the retirement of Associate Justice Roberto Abad last May 22.

In a nine-page letter, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza asked the SC to order the JBC to disallow Sereno, who also serves as ex-officio chair of the council, from participating in the voting on the shortlist set on Monday.

It was an unprecedented move, especially considering that both Jardeleza and Sereno are appointees of President Aquino.

Jardeleza, one of 13 nominees for the post, accused Sereno of violating the rules by objecting to his nomination in recent sessions for supposed questions of integrity even in the absence of formal opposition from an aggrieved party.

Jardeleza said he was informed that Sereno raised before the JBC questions on his integrity twice “without informing me of the nature and cause of the accusations against me and without giving me an opportunity to be heard.”

“With all due respect to Chief Justice Sereno, her foregoing acts and omissions violate my right to due process of law, violate the council’s own rules and are in grave abuse of discretion,” he alleged.

He said he was also told by the JBC that the chief justice wanted him to appear before it on June 30, the day the council is to vote on the shortlist, to inform him about supposed “objections” to his integrity.

Jardeleza believes it was a clear act of partiality on the part of the JBC chair, who acted both as “prosecutor and judge.”

He explained that it also violated rules requiring the council to act only on allegations against nominees that are backed by evidence, to allow the nominee to answer the charges or objections, and to be transparent in all its proceedings.

“The rule does not grant a member of the council peremptory powers to deny an applicant a nomination, in the absence of evidence priorly brought to the attention of, and validated by, the council in the public and transparent process prescribed in its rules,” he added.

Because of this, Jardeleza asked the SC to intervene in the selection process and exercise its “constitutional power and duty of supervision” over the JBC, the constitutional body tasked to vet nominees in posts in the judiciary and the Sandiganbayan.