Two of the country’s “best and the brightest” judges have been designated by President Duterte to key positions in the Supreme Court, Malacañang announced yesterday.
The President has appointed SC Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin as the country’s new Chief Justice, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of Teresita de Castro last October. He is expected to head the Judiciary until midnight of Oct. 17, 2019. The next day, Oct. 18, he will turn 70, the mandatory retirement age for members of the Judiciary.
Also appointed was CA Associate Justice Rosemari Carandang as SC Associate Justice.
The President is counting on the two new SC justices to continue to uphold judicial excellence and independence, according to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo.
“Both justices belong to what PRRD calls ‘the best and the brightest’ as Chief Justice Bersamin placed ninth in the 1973 Bar examinations while Associate Justice Carandang also claimed the same spot in the 1975 Bar examinations,” Panelo said.
Panelo said Bersamin was considered the most senior justice in the SC in terms of services rendered in various capacities under the Judiciary. He noted that Bersamin served nearly 17 years as the Presiding Judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, over six years as CA Associate Justice, and close to 10 years as the 163rd magistrate of the SC.
Carandang, on the other hand, has served as CA Associate Justice since March 2003, according to Panelo. Before her CA appointment, Carandang served as the Presiding Judge of the Manila Regional Trial Court.
“We are confident that CJ Bersamin and AJ Carandang will continue to uphold judicial excellence, assert its independence and stand firm against erring members of the bench, the Bar, and court personnel as they lead the third branch of the government, together with the rest of the Supreme Court Justices, in remaining steadfast in its role as the guardian of the rule of law,” Panelo said.
The people of Abra welcomed the appointment of their province-mate Bersamin as Chief Justice.
Abra Gov. Ma. Jocelyn Bernos said Bersamin “has always been a source of pride for the Abrenos” while Abra Rep. Joseph Sto. Nino Bernos said his appointment is “good for the province and an honor for every Abreno.”
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday that Duterte already has someone in mind as the next Armed Forces chief of staff, replacing Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. who will retire from the service this December.
Lorenzana said he has knowledge who the Chief Executive might possibly name as the next top man of the 135,000-strong AFP but refused to divulge in order not to preempt the announcement by the President.
He, however, did not discount the possibility that the next Chief of Staff will come from the ranks of the Philippine Army. (with reports from Rey Panaligan, Freddie Lazaro, and Francis T. Wakefield)
