Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra turned down Monday his nomination to the Supreme Court, saying he is “still in love” with his agency.
“Thank you for nominating me but I’m still in love with the DoJ (Department of Justice),” Guevarra said during a speech at the Prosecutors’ League of the Philippines-National Capital Region (PLP-NCR) Conference in Manila.
“Do you know the feeling of someone who has always desired a wonderful person to be his or her spouse in the future? But somewhere along the way, he bumps into someone else whom he likes and desires,” Guevarra said.
With this, the Secretary declined the nomination that recommended him as a candidate as SC justice.
Retired Sandiganbayan Justice Raoul Victirino submitted last Wednesday to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) his nomination of Guevarra as candidate for the vacant SC seat.
Before becoming justice secretary, Guevarra admitted he considered applying as SC justice when he was still in Malacanang as Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs.
“So in 2016, I really considered applying to the Supreme Court as one of my legal options. It’s one of my career options,” he recounted.
“But circumstances have threw me in Padre Faura, but not that part of Padre Faura, not near Taft Avenue, but Padre Faura near Robinsons. And I found out it was good, it was exciting,” Guevarra pointed out. The DoJ and SC offices are located on Padre Faura St. In Manila.
The DoJ chief admitted that he was grateful that President Duterte appointed him as Justice Secretary back in 2018.
“I didn’t plan it, nobody planned it but in my opinion that was really a blessing in disguise. So I hope to be able to continue doing something good for the DoJ and let’s see what happens in the future,” he told reporters after his speech.
The Justice Secretary admitted he is not shutting his doors to the possibility of seeking a seat at the SC.
“I very much want to join the Judiciary in some future time but I just want to make sure that I’m able to do something more for the DoJ before I can even think of transferring to the Judiciary,” he told reporters.
Guevarra is 65-years-old and the retirement age of SC magistrates is at 70.
“To tell you frankly, I have so many things to do pa sa DOJ,” the Justice Secretary revealed.
Guevarra said he intends to reduce substantially the backlogs of petitions for review, address the lack of prosecutors in the country, and put into order the correctional system as well as the DoJ’s attached agencies, among others. (Jeffrey G. Damicog)
