STATEMENT ABOUT THE APPOINTMENT OF TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO AS THE NEW CHIEF JUSTICE

I express my strong opposition to the appointment of Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro as the next Chief Justice of the Philippines.

Last week, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) released its shortlist for the Chief Justice post - among them were the Associate Justices Leonardo-de Castro, Bersamin, and Peralta. Justice Secretary and JBC ex-officio member Menardo I. Guevarra announced to the media that the President chose Justice Leonardo-de Castro as the new Chief Justice to replace Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno who was removed from her post via a quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida. The shortlisted candidates were all voted to grant the petition of Calida to oust Sereno into the bench of the judiciary.

Netizens roared their dismay over the President's choice, since that Justice Leonardo-de Castro has only two months to serve as Chief Justice - the shortest term in the history of the judiciary. They also viewed this as a political accommodation since that it was known to all that the President wants to unseat Sereno and they voted in favor of Duterte. Some juridical institutions and organizations even ruled that removing Chief Justice Sereno via a quo warranto is unconstitutional, thus the ruling will put the entire judiciary in turmoil as each Associate Justices who can be removed only by impeachment can be ousted at any time by someone who will file a quo warranto.

Others view this appointment as a strategy of the President to be able to appoint a new Chief Justice after two months. They also said that Leonardo-de Castro is just using this opportunity to receive more benefits and allowances compared to her current status as Associate Justice which amounts to an additional estimated value of 1 million pesos.

The question now is: What can a Leonardo-de Castro Court do with just a short span of two months in the judiciary? If the President needs six years before he/she can fully implement his/her programs in the country, then why would appoint someone who will just be serving two months?

I pity this government now. Even the untouchable judiciary has now been compromised with the appointment of Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Now she receives her prize for granting his President's wish. The judiciary's symbolic woman whose eyes were blindfolded has now pierced her own precious sight and turning her own self into total darkness.