By REY G. PANALIGAN
Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio said yesterday he will decline all nominations for him to be the next Chief Justice.
In a television interview, Carpio said that since he voted against the removal of Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno as Chief Justice via a quo warranto petition, he has to be consistent with his stand.
“I have to be consistent with my position that the quo warranto is not a proper way to remove a sitting member of the Supreme Court. I don’t want to benefit from the decision to which I disagreed. But I will have to implement it because I’m the temporary head of the institution,” Carpio said.
Last Tuesday, the SC – in an 8-6 vote – declared its May 11 decision that ousted Sereno as Chief Justice and head of the Judiciary final. Carpio was one of the six justices who dissented from the majority decision.
When one declines his or her nomination to a post in the Judiciary, the Judicial and Bar Council – the constitutionally mandated office that accepts, screens, and nominates appointments to the Judiciary – would not consider him or her as an applicant to the post.
By seniority and with the ouster of Sereno, the three most senior justices of the SC, including Carpio, are Justices Presbitero J. Velasco Jr. and Teresita J. Leonardo J. de Castro.
Velasco and De Castro are retiring in August and October this year, respectively. With their retirement, the two other senior justices would be Justices Diosdado M. Peralta and Lucas P. Bersamin.
Like Carpio, Bersamin would retire mandatorily next year when they reach the age of 70. Peralta, on the other hand, has still four years in the Judiciary.
Traditionally, the top three SC justices are automatically qualified to the post of Chief Justice. But they have to be nominated by the JBC which is set to meet on Monday to tackle the vacancy in the Chief Justice post.
