A high-ranking official of the Integrated Bar of the Phiilippines in Baguio-Benguet has proposed the creation of a Deputy Chief Justice to shield the judiciary from politics.
Lawyer Alan Antonio Mazo, the IBP Baguio-Benguet chapter president, said that lawyers, justices and others in the legal profession want to push for judicial reforms in the face of the impeachment and quo warranto petition against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
“Nu’ng pinapasadahan ko ang Constitution, I came up with several proposition. First, I was contemplating of proposing the creation of a position for a Deputy Chief Justice who shall automatically become the Chief Justice upon the retirement or incapacity of the Chief Justice to insulate the judiciary from any political pressure,” he said during his presentation in the onsultative hearing on Charter change conducted by senators.
He said the Deputy Chief Justice should come from among three Associate Justices.
Mazo also wants to propose to lower the mandatory retirement age of justices to give them more time to enjoy life.
“I was thinking of the mandatory retirement of trial court justice which is to lower from 70 to 60. For the justices of Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, and Court of Tax Appeals which should be from 70 to 65,” he said.