The Judicial and Bar Council has been asked to disqualify one of its members, lawyer Ma. Milagros Cayosa, from applying for a position as associate justice of Court of Tax Appeals.
Senatorial candidate Larry Gadon opposed the application of Cayosa, representative of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in the JBC, for alleged lack of “proven competence, integrity, probity and independence,” which are key qualifications for the CTA justice position.
Gadon accused Cayosa of lying when she testified during the impeachment hearings against ousted Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno in the House of Representatives when she claimed that Sereno complied with the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth requirement during her application for the chief justice post in 2012.
“Atty. Cayosa was the one who lied and testified in the House of Representatives that Sereno complied with the SALN submission when Sereno applied for the chief justice position. It turned out that Sereno submitted only three out of the minimum requirement of 10 SALNs,” Gadon said, in an interview.
“As a prime mover in the impeachment of Atty. Ma. Lourdes Sereno, I know for a fact that Cayosa committed irregularities at the JBC when she accepted the incomplete SALNs of Sereno during the latter’s application as chief justice then,” Gadon alleged in his letter-opposition to the JBC.
He also questioned the eligibility of the JBC member. “Aside from that unethical act, Cayosa has no experience being a judge of a lower court. She is neither an expert in taxation. Her only qualification as JBC member is being a representative of the IBP. There are other applicants more qualified and deserving,” he said.
Gadon also believed that the application of Cayosa to the CTA vacancies left by the retirement of Associate Justices Lovell Bautista and Caesar Casanova is a “conflict of interest, much more a sense of unprofessionalism” since she is a member of the council that will deliberate on her application.
Gadon added that as a member of the JBC, Cayosa has “undue advantage among the other applicants.”
“Allowing Cayosa to be an aspiring CTA Justice would run counter to this Honorable Council’s mission of recommending appointees ‘only persons of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence,” he stressed.
JBC is the seven-member council tasked to screen nominees for judicial posts.
Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin sits as chairman with Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Senator Richard Gordon as ex-officio members.
Apart from Cayosa, the other regular members of the council are retired SC Justice Jose Mendoza, retired SC Justice Noel Tijam and retired Judge Toribio Ilao.