Pulupandan, Negros Occidental Magdaleno Peña doesn’t seem ready to let up on his effort to have acting Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Antonio Carpio from being disqualified from being included in the shortlist of candidates for the new head of the tribunal as he submitted yet again last Friday a petition with the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) opposing Carpio’s candidacy.
Peña’s letter was the fourth since July 18 citing an administrative complaint against Carpio. In his new petition, however, Peña withdrew his opposition against Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno which he earlier also sought to be removed among nominees for the Chief Justice post
He said recent press statements from various members of the JBC claim that his complaint against Carpio “has been dismissed already” since the motion for reconsideration (MR) he filed on the SC decision turning down the complaint was “merely incidental.”
“While it is correct that the Supreme Court on June 13 (interestingly right after Carpio became acting Chief Justice and before the start of the JBC proceedings) dismissed my administrative complaint, I timely filed an MR of the decision,” Peña said.
Peña said that with the MR, the decision has not attained finality and that it remains pending.
“Under rule 4, section 5 of the JBC rules, applicants with pending administrative cases are automatically disqualified,” according to Peña who at the same time detailed the contents of the provision.
He added that under the JBC rules, Carpio is disqualified due to the pendency of the case.
“In fact, it seems that your honorable office is strictly applying the foregoing disqualification under the JBC rules against three other nominees,” according to Peña.
He added that the JBC had also stated that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was disqualified due to pending administrative cases.
“However, her cases are purely political
in nature while the case against Justice Carpio is regarding moral, ethical and corruption issues. In fact, he even used the SC (to hide his intent and participation) to request information regarding his administrative complaint and used an employee lawyer from the Bacolod Water District to pick up the same,” he said.
The JBC last Friday said it had reset the voting on its shortlist of nominees for the post of Chief Justice tomorrow after failing to reach a consensus on the voting.
The shortlist of at least three names will be submitted by the JBC to President Aquino for his consideration.
During the deliberations of the JBC on Friday, there were objections to a pending motion to suspend the rules from Undersecretary Michael Frederick Musngi, an ex-officio member of the JBC representing the Executive Branch.
Section 5 of JBC’s Rule 4 provides that the following are considered disqualified from “appointment to any judicial post or as Ombudsman or Deputy Ombudsman”: those with pending criminal or regular administrative cases; those with pending criminal cases in foreign courts or tribunal; and those who have been convicted in any criminal case, or in an administrative case, where the penalty imposed is at least a fine of more than P10,000, unless he has been granted judicial clemency.
The JBC members said that the vote to suspend the rules involves a question of integrity so that voting on the motion should be “unanimous.”
De Lima has pending disbarment cases, while Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, another candidate, has a pending administrative case at the SC’s Office of the Bar Confidant.
On the other hand, yet another candidate Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Teresita Herbosa also faces an administrative case.
De Lima sought the dismissal of the cases against her, saying that they were “politically motivated.”
Nominee Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chairman Andres Bautista also has a pending case against him, which he indicated was “for mediation” in his personal data sheet.
The SC also dismissed last Friday a disbarment case filed against Carpio, citing prior jurisprudence.
Iloilo City Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., another ex-officio member of the JBC representing the House of Representatives, said, “We already reached the consensus, the acting chief justice was no longer disqualified because of the decision by the SC.”
Aquino will choose from the shortlist of nominees of the JBC the successor of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona and he has until Aug. 27 to appoint the new Chief Justice based on a provision of the Constitution.