Newly-appointed Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin on Monday appealed to his colleagues and court officials to help him in instituting reforms in the judiciary.
During his first flag-raising ceremony as chief magistrate, Bersamin vowed to address perennial problems in courts, but appealed for cooperation from court workers and personnel.
“I have no promise to you except that I will continue to serve with all sincerity in my heart. I intend also to address our persistent problems in the lower courts,” the new chief justice said.
“I ask you to welcome me, to love me, to support me, to help me in my 11 months. It’s just a short period so just bear with me),” Bersamin added.
The new top magistrate was greeted by a big banner and colorful balloons during his first flag-raising ceremony after appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte last week vice retired Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.
Bersamin branded himself as an “accidental chief justice,” recognizing that he is not the most senior among the justices and many court personnel were expecting someone else appointed as chief justice.
“I know that you have expected maybe another individual to be appointed to this office. I am not apologizing for myself, I am not apologizing for the President. I am here because I was appointed, so that should stop all speculations from within and without regarding whether Justicr Bersamin deserved to be chief justice or not,” he said.
“There may be someone more senior than me now sitting in the Court, but at age 69, I can look back and tell you that I have 32 years behind me in this business,” Bersamin stressed.
He did not name who he was referring to, but was obviously referring to Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who was bypassed for the chief justice post for the second time.
Carpio is the most senior member of the Court, having been appointed as associate justice in 2001. But Bersamin is the longest serving magistrate of SC in the judiciary with 32 years of experience in the courts or since 1986.
Malacañang already explained that Carpio was not picked by the President because of his earlier decision not to apply for the chief justice post in deference to his position against the ouster of chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno via quo warranto last May.
Carpio said he did not want to benefit from Sereno’s ouster, whom he had voted against, but decided to apply for the post after De Castro’s retirement last October because he believed that the vacancy was no longer questionable. But Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President did not buy such explanation from Carpio, saying the vacancy from De Castro’s retirement also stemmed from Sereno’s ouster.
Carpio was not present during the flag-raising ceremony.
After addressing the seniority issue, Bersamin asked court personnel to move forward and help him “put up a good image of the judiciary.”
“We shouldn’t think of the past anymore because that’s irrelevant already). This is a new beginning, I will have continuity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bersamin vowed to implement reforms in the judiciary, including the strict implementation of ban on mobile phone use among court personnel during office hours.
“Let us avoid using cellphones while on duty. It’s shameful, cellphones cannot sustain our living. I want to bring back use of telephone and confiscate cellphones. This may be petty, but it’s a good start),” he told Court workers.
Bersamin said the issue on the image of judiciary and perception of the SC from the lower courts also remain a serious concern that should be addressed.
“The biggest problem is the misconception that the SC doesn’t care about lower courts and I’d like to correct that,” he said.
Bersamin said he will soon meet judges, officials of the Philippine Judicial Academy, members of the Judicial and Bar Council, employees’ associations and other officers of the judiciary to discuss other reform matters.
As this developed, the Supreme Court has reorganized its three divisions following the appointments of Bersamin and Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang.
As chief Justice, Bersamin becomes the chairman of the SC’s First Division from his previous post as chairman of the third division.
During the brief stint of his predecessor, retired Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Bersamin had served as working chair of the Court’s First Division when he was the fourth most senior magistrate of the 15-member bench.
Apart from Bersamin, the Court’s First Division will be composed by Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo as working chair, and Associate Justices Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam and Alexander Gesmundo as members.
As chief justice, Bersamin will also sit as chair of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal that will resolve the election protest of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo.
Carpio, meanwhile, returns to his post as chairman of the SC’s second division after serving as acting chief justice and acting chair of the first division during the vacancy in the top judicial post.
He is joined this time by Associate Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Jose Reyes Jr. and Carandang.
Carpio has been chairman of the second division and second most senior under three chief justices—the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and De Castro.
He will also remain as chair of Senate Electoral Tribunal.
Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, meanwhile, will chair the third division, with Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Andres Reyes Jr. and Ramon Paul Hernando as members and Carandang as acting member.
Peralta also remains chairman of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal.
The SC still has one vacancy.
In a related development, Bersamin designated Court Administrator Midas Marquez as spokesman of the Supreme Court.
Aside from being a spokesman, Marquez will act as chief of the SC’s Public Information Office, which he will concurrently serve as court administrator.
“I’ve known Midas for a while now and I need his help to burnish the image of the Supreme Court,” he told reporters.
In introducing Marquez, Bersamin also appealed to the media to be accurate in reporting and likewise report on positive news in the Court.
Bersamin lamented how he himself became subject of attacks in the media by some quarters he did not identity.
Marquez previously served as spokesman of the High Court under two former chief justices— Reynato Puno and the late Renato Corona—prior to his appointment as SC court administrator.
“I cannot say no to the Chief Justice,” Marquez said, when asked why he decided to again speak for the Court.
Marquez takes the place of lawyer Theodore Te, who served as SC spokesman for six years during the term of ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Atty. Te has returned to full-time teaching at the UP College of Law after resigning from his post last Sept.
Marquez rose from judicial ranks and has been with the SC for over 27 years.
He started his career in the SC in 1991 as a law clerk for several justices, including retired Associate Justice Abraham Sarmiento, Senior Justice and former Philippine Judicial Academy chancellor Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, and retired Senior Justice Josue Bellosillo, and rose from the ranks and appointed court administrator in 2010.
He has since spearheaded many reforms in the judiciary with the constant backing of the SC justices.
Marquez has also been nominated several times for associate justice of the High Court.
Meanwhile, former Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Bersamin, the 25th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is bound to demonstrate a strong bias in favor of victims.
“Our sense is, the new Chief Justice is likely to have a forceful bearing against violent crime and great compassion for victims, considering that his own family suffered of a brutal killing,” Roque said.
Bersamin’s older brother, the late Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin, was shot in the head at the Mt. Carmel Church compound in Quezon City after attending the wedding of his niece on Dec. 16, 2006.
“Once you’ve been a victim yourself, you tend to have immense sympathy for other victims,” Roque said.
Citing political rivalry as the motive, a Quezon City regional trial court on Sept. 30, 2015 found former Abra Gov. Vicente Valera and two accomplices guilty of double murder for the killing of the older Bersamin and his security aide, SPO1 Adelfo Ortega.
Valera and his co-conspirators were meted out two 20 to 40-year prison terms.
Before he was assassinated, the older Bersamin had declared his plans to run against Valera, then the incumbent governor, in the 2007 elections.
Roque, meanwhile, vowed to push for improvements in the country’s legal system.
“Offhand, we favor an eventual shift to an inquisitorial legal system patterned after those in European countries, where the courts are actively involved in investigating the facts of a case,” Roque, a lawyer by profession, said.
At present, Roque said the country’s legal system is “adversarial,” where judge merely acts as the passive and neutral arbiter between the prosecution and the defense.
Roque recently filed his certificate of candidacy for senator in next year’s mid-term elections under the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s People’s Reform Party.