The Supreme Court’s most senior Associate Justice, Antonio Carpio, on Friday formally accepted his automatic nomination for the most coveted post in the judiciary, which was left vacant following the compulsory retirement of Chief Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-Castro on Oct. 10.
The high court’s Public Information Office confirmed that Carpio accepted the nomination for the post of chief justice.
“Confirmation that Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio has accepted his automatic nomination for CJ from his Judicial Staff head Atty. Maria Teresa Sibulo,” the PIO said in a text message to reporters.
With Carpio’s joining the chief justice race, it will now be a three-way fight among him and Associate Justices Diosdado M. Peralta and Lucas P. Bersamin who had also earlier accepted their automatic nominations.
But this scenario will change if Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe also submits her acceptance of her automatic nomination.
Of the four, Justices Peralta and Bersamin have already been interviewed by the JBC during their automatic nomination for the vacancy caused by the granting of the quo warranto petition against Maria Lourdes Sereno.
Associate Justice Mariano C. del Castillo has declined his automatic nomination for the top judicial post. He is one of the five most senior associate justices in the 15-member bench.
In his letter dated Oct. 12, 2018 to the JBC, Del Castillo said he was compelled to decline his automatic nomination because his being the chairman of the 2018 Bar Examinations had constrained him from undertaking “notable projects” that a top magistrate would like to implement before his retirement next year.
“I am honored to be automatically nominated to the post of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court… My compulsory retirement next year, however, compels me to respectfully decline the nomination,” said Del Castillo who will reach his mandatory retirement age of 70 on July 29 next year.
“I foresee that, as chairperson of the 2018 Bar Examinations, my work will extend to the months just prior to my retirement. That will leave me not much time to embark on notable projects that a Chief Justice will normally want to have an imprint on,”
Meanwhile, the Judicial and Bar Council extended to Oct. 26 the deadline for the application period for the top judicial post vice De Castro who retired on October 10.
The JBC had originally set on Oct. 15 the deadline for the application or nomination for the chief justice.
Earlier, the JBC announced the opening of another vacancy for the post of high court Associate Justice Noel Gimenez Tijam, who will compulsorily retire on Jan. 5, 2019.
The JBC will interview on Oct. 18 Sandiganbayan Justice Alex D.L. Quiroz and lawyer Rita Linda Jimeno, two of the candidates vying for the post of high court Associate Justice De Castro.
The interview will be conducted from 9 am to 12 noon at the Division Hearing Room, Supreme Court Main Building, along Padre Faura, Manila. There are 10 more applicants vying for the position of Associate Justice but whose previous interviews remain valid.
They are Court of Appeals Justices Oscar V. Badelles, Manuel M. Barrios, Apolinario D. Bruselas Jr., Rosmari D. Carandang, Stephen C. Cruz, Edgardo L. Delos Santos, Japar B. Dimaampao, Ramon D.R. Garcia, Amy C. Lazaro-Javier and former Ateneo Law Dean Cesar L. Villanueva.