Supreme Court's Chief Justice Sereno and newly appointed Associate Justice Leonen

[dogster_jr]

Mods, with your approval I move for this thread to be a Poll Question (Ideally, when the JBC released the shortlist of the 3 most qualified name)

.....

Who do you think are the top 3 most qualified candidate that will make it to the JBC shortlist and why?


I staunchly believe Acting Chief Justice Antonio 'Tony' Carpio is the man to beat! Let his track record speak for itself

.....

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) released Friday, July 6, the official list of candidates for the next chief justice of the Supreme Court.

The list includes the names of 22 nominees submitted to JBC from June 2 to July 2.

The JBC is the body that screens and vets nominees for vacant judicial posts. It will interview the chief justice candidates from July 24 to 26, then submit a shortlist of the 3 most qualified names to Aquino.

The President has until August 29 to appoint the replacement of dismissed chief justice Renato Corona.

Source: http://www.rappler.com/nation/specia...-chief-justice

1. Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio



2. Associate Justice Presbitero J. Velasco Jr.



3. Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro



4. Associate Justice Arturo D. Brion



5. Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad



6. Associate Justice Maria Lourdes P. Sereno



Justice Sereno vowed “to uphold the truth . . . in favour for those who are weak in order that justice, in its true sense, may be rendered.”

7. Andres D. Bautista
Chairman, PCGG

8. Soledad M. Cagampang-de Castro
Professor of Law

9. Leila M. de Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice



10. Jose Manuel I. Diokno
Founding Dean of De La Salle University College of Law



11. Teresita J. Herbosa
Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission

12. Francis H. Jardeleza
Incumbent Solicitor General


13. Maria Carolina Katrina T. Legarda
Professor, UP College of Law
Practicing Lawyer, Advocate of the rights of women and children



14. Rafael A. Morales
Professorial Lecturer, UP College of Law

15. Raul C. Pangalangan


Professor of Law, Former Dean UP College of Law
He taught Public International Law at the Harvard Law School as Visiting Professor in 2007

Pangalangan said he wanted to reform the law licensure exams system by giving a well-defined scope of the examination, where only one book is to be studied.

16. Rufus B. Rodriguez
Congressman


17. Rene V. Sarmiento
COMELEC Commissioner
Lecturer at the Philippine Judicial Academy

Sarmiento said he wanted to enhance communication with the public, through a monthly or quarterly “Steps-of-the-Supreme Court chat” with the media, and also connect with government institutions and non-government organizations that seek to enable and empower the vulnerable.

18. Manuel DJ. Siayngco Jr.
Retired Judge

19. Amado D. Valdez
Dean University of the East College of Law



20. Vicente R. Velasquez
Private Practice Lawyer
Founder Velasquez Law Office

21. Cesar Villanueva
former Dean of the Ateneo Law School


22. Ronaldo B. Zamora
Congressman

[dogster_jr]

By Jamie Elona
INQUIRER.net
9:02 pm | Friday, July 20th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines – Nine of the 22 candidates for chief justice presented themselves before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines on Friday, promising to either “uphold the truth”, promote an “ethical, moral and independent judiciary”, or “reform the law licensure exams system”.

Of the nine, however, only four or five “satisfied”, said Roan Libarios, IBP national president, as “some failed to effectively address the concerns and issues of the legal profession.”

Those who participated in the IBP forum were Supreme Court Associate Justices Maria Lourdes Sereno and Roberto Abad, Commission on Election commissioner Rene Sarmiento, Presidential Commission on Good Government Chairman Andres Bautista, former law dean of the University of the Philippines Raul Pangalangan, University of the East Law Dean Amado Valdez, and lawyers Rafael Morales, Vicente Velasquez, Manuel DJ Siayngco Jr.

Libarios said the forum was meant “to strengthen public discussion on the search process for the next Chief Justice,” and to be used as additional reference by Judicial and Bar Council when it starts its selection process for the Supreme Court’s top post, which was vacated following the conviction of then incumbent Renato Corona by the Senate, acting as an impeachment court.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/232343/...stice-face-ibp

[dogster_jr]

Judicial reform too important to fail
by Acting Chief Justice Antonio T Carpio

The leaders of the judiciary must lead by example. The successful organizations are those whose leaders lead by example.

The judiciary needs to learn, and implement, the lessons from the recent impeachment of the former Chief Justice. These lessons pertain to integrity, transparency and accountability in the Judiciary. Of course, the judiciary is only one of the pillars of the broader justice system that includes the community as well as agencies of the executive branch.

The number one problem of the judiciary is clogged dockets, arising from delays in trial, and delays in deciding cases. Clogged dockets impair social justice, hinder economic development, and erode public confidence in the justice system and ultimately in the entire government.

At present, 21% of trials take 2 to 5 years to finish, and 13% take more than 5 years to finish. On the other hand, cases should ideally be decided as prescribed by the Constitution: not more than 24 months for the Supreme Court, not more than 12 months for all other appellate courts, and not more than 3 months for all other lower courts, all counted from the date of submission for resolution of the case.

Online, real-time monitoring. The template for this CMS is the two-year old case management system of the Court of Appeals (CA), which is widely acknowledged worldwide as a success. Presiding Justice Andres Reyes of the CA estimates that by the end of this year 2012, the CA will comply with the constitutional directive that CA cases should be decided within 12 months from date of submission for resolution.

The CMS will allow the CJ, PJ, the Court Administrator and the Deputy Court Administrators, to monitor online, and in real time, the caseload, aging, and the rate of disposition of cases of any judge or justice. The public can also find out the status of their cases by simply going to the website of the court.

The gatekeeper of integrity and independence is the JBC, which must insure that no one who does not possess integrity and independence gets into the list of nominees submitted to the President.

Decisions of a judge or justice are the best evidence of the competence, integrity and independence of the judge or justice. A decision can reveal whether the judge or justice knows his law, whether a judge or justice has favored a litigant, and whether a judge or justice has a steely or wimpy decisional independence.

The leaders of the judiciary, and I refer to the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, must be the embodiment of integrity and independence for the rest of the judiciary to follow. Thus, the Supreme Court Justices should lead in complying with the law by disclosing their SALNs as mandated by the Constitution and the law. The Supreme Court has done this as part of the lessons learned from the recent impeachment of the former Chief justice.

I share these thoughts with you because judicial reform is too big to be undertaken by the judiciary alone. Judicial reform can happen only with the cooperation of all stakeholders in the justice system – the judiciary, the executive and legislative Branches, the Bar and the public.

All the stakeholders must work earnestly together because a well-functioning judiciary is essential for good governance and for the economic development of our country. Judicial reform is simply too important to fail.


(These are excerpts from a speech delivered by Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio before the Central Luzon Regional Convention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines on June 29 in Clark, Pampanga.)

Source: http://www.rappler.com/thought-leade...ortant-to-fail

[kuroihikari]

Mods, with your approval I move for this thread to be a Poll Question (Ideally, when the JBC released the shortlist of the 3 most qualified name)

I'd be glad to . Please send me a PM with the final list in case I don't get to the news on time.

[dogster_jr]

I'd be glad to . Please send me a PM with the final list in case I don't get to the news on time.

I will, thank you Mod Kuroihikari!

Cheers,

[dogster_jr]

Posted: July 20, 2012; By Jen T. Tuazon

In addition to the live media coverage of public interviews of candidates for judicial positions, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has also recently created official Facebook and Twitter accounts to provide the public venues where they can send in questions for the candidates.

The Facebook and Twitter accounts will be operational for the duration of the interviews. Thus for the interviews of the candidates vying for the position of Chief Justice, the public can post questions for the candidates from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm from July 24 to July 27.

The name of the JBC Facebook account is “Judicialandbarcouncil Supremecourt,” while the JBC Twitter handle is “@SupremeCourtJBC.”

Guidelines for the public on the usage of both accounts will also be posted by the JBC online.

Source: http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pio/news/...7/07201201.php

[sqloudane]

Mukhang di prepared si Jardeleza

[sqloudane]

ayan si Legarda na...

[victoryliner]

[calvinzero]

Legarda.. very impartial. siya lang yata nagsabi na hindi impeachable offense ang non-disclosure of SALN..

[dogster_jr]

What a first day!

Shall I take comfort upon witnessing how Secy De Lima was struck by SC Assoc. Justice Peralta's Jurist double-edged sword of Damocles?!

De Lima resembled a fallen angel with a simple question from Justice Peralta to paraphrase: As your client's lawyer will you obey a TRO from Court (not necessarily from the SC)?

De Lima answered: If the TRO "appeared regular" she will.

Justice Peralta has indirectly sent a message to de Lima: Can you be one of us? Are you even qualified to be the next CJ? Do you have an even temper?

De Lima trembled.

...

I thought PCGG Chairman, Dean Bautista's interview was okay. He had this manner of getting his message across in simple terms. He had humour too, to paraphrase: I feel that being a nominee for the next CJ, you have to be Binibining Pilipinas, a witness in the Impeachment trial and one of the Defence Lawyer in the Impeachment trial rolled in one.

...

I was particularly impressed with Diokno's interview. He definitely know what he is talking about:

(Excerpt from his interview)

Asked about his concept of justice, Diokno said, "Something concrete, something people see happening in reality and not just a lofty ideal. It is something they can feel in their hands."

Asked how he would describe himself as a lawyer, Diokno conceded he would be a judicial activist given the absence of a proper legal framework that can make justice accessible to the poor. As a judicial activist, he considers the Constitution as a "living document," Diokno said.

"We cannot just sit back and take a conservative attitude that would not benefit the people we are here to serve," he explained, adding that judicial activism must cater to society's most vulnerable sectors.

...

I was not able to watch Jardeleza and Katrina Legarda's interview.

How did they go?

...

Who do you think is the best performer in today's interview?

Any comment on how the JBC members ask questions?

I wish Cong. Tupas played dead . It was dragging to watch him. I don't know if I'm watching the JBC interview or a talk show

[dogster_jr]

Legarda.. very impartial. siya lang yata nagsabi na hindi impeachable offense ang non-disclosure of SALN..

Do you agree that non disclosure (in full) of SALN is a non impeachable offence?

I was unable to watch her interview.

[kuroihikari]

Was it Legarda who said that the crimes of minors are not on an increase, but that law enforcement is less capable so they take the easy way out by blaming it on minors?

That was such a gutsy remark. And borderline anti-establishment, too. She may have scored negative points on that.

[sqloudane]

For those who failed to watch the interviews...ANC uploaded them on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/user/ANCalerts/videos

[dogster_jr]

For those who failed to watch the interviews...ANC uploaded them on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/user/ANCalerts/videos

Thanks for the link. Cheers!

[dogster_jr]

Was it Legarda who said that the crimes of minors are not on an increase, but that law enforcement is less capable so they take the easy way out by blaming it on minors?

That was such a gutsy remark. And borderline anti-establishment, too. She may have scored negative points on that.

I haven't read the transcript. If she did, she genuinely expressed her thoughts.

Legarda is known to have a gutsy personality.

Perhaps she won't get a negative points from the JBC Members of the Academe, Private Sector and IBP.

The other members are quite hard to please with the exception of the Legislative

[dogster_jr]

Candidates grilled on ‘lack of experience’
By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
8:26 pm | Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines—The Judicial and Bar Council on Tuesday questioned the nominees about their “lack of experience” and how it would affect them and the Judiciary if they would be appointed Chief Justice.

Interviewed on Day One of the JBC live interview Tuesday were all “outsider” candidates, namely Presidential Commission on Good Government Chair Andres Bautista, Law Professor Soledad Cagampang De Castro, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno, Solicitor-General Francis Jardeleza and women’s right advocate Maria Carolina “Katrina” Legarda.

“I have things to bring to the table from the private sector. I will fully adjust myself,”

Presidential Commission on Good Government Chair Andres Bautista

“I’m still fit to work. It’s never too late to implement something substantial,”

Law Professor Soledad Cagampang De Castro

“I have the experience with respect to the knowledge and application of the law.”

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima

Diokno’s four-point plan if appointed would be judicial transparency, public accountability, no flip-flopping of final decisions and faster and cheaper justice for the public.

Human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno

“If ever I will be blessed with the Chief Justice position, I will inhibit in all San Miguel cases,”

Jardeleza, on the other hand, said he was not afraid of making decisions contrary to the stand of the Executive Department “as long as the decisions are based on reason and well elaborated.”

Solicitor-General Francis Jardeleza

The sixth and last to be interviewed for the day was lawyer Legarda who revealed that the judiciary “got scared” after Chief Justice Renato Corona was impeached of an offense which she does not think was impeachable.

“The morale of the courts plunged and many of the judges I work with, the justices in all the training that I do for the Philippine Judicial Academy were like lost sheep,”

Maria Carolina “Katrina” Legarda

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/235725/...-of-experience

[tigerman]

There is actually no provision in the Constitution which explicitly states that the President has the power to appoint the Chief Justice. Atty. Alan Paguia was correct in pointing this out in one of his interviews at the height of the impeachment trial.

What the Constitution says about this matter is this,

Section 9 of Article 8
"The Members of the Supreme Court and judges of the lower courts shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for every vacancy. Such appointments need no confirmation.

xxx xxx xxx."

As can be gleaned from the above-mentioned provision, the President shall appoint the Members and not the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

When Atty. Paguia was asked about the remedy if and when the President cannot really appoint the CJ, he says it would be better if the SC Justices elect among themselves the CJ just like what the Senate and House of Representatives do.

[victoryliner]

CJ aspirant Legarda: It's time to have divorce in the Philippines
ROUCHELLE R. DINGLASAN, GMA News July 24, 2012 6:33pm


Lawyer Katrina Legarda on Tuesday told the Judicial and Bar Council that the Philippines should have a law on divorce, considering that 50 percent of marriages end up in the courts.

Legarda, one of the six aspirants to the chief justice position interviewed by the JBC, noted that out of thousands of petitions before the Supreme Court seeking to nullify marriages only seven have so far been rendered a decision.

“It is time for us to have a divorce law,” said Legarda, 57, the chief legal counsel of state-run Government Service Insurance System.

"I do not understand the resistance to divorce other than the Catholic Church does not wish it to be passed," Legarda said during her panel interview broadcast live on national television.

“It may be passed in a limited sense. As human beings, people make mistakes. People are coming to family lawyers after six months of marriage. I wonder looking at these young people, what is the life ahead of them if they are not given a second chance,” she said.

On the RH Bill

On the controversial Reproductive Health Bill, Legarda said the use contraceptives or condoms may prevent conception and it does not violate the constitutional provision that protects the right of an unborn child, because the fertilized ovum has not been implanted with a sperm.

She said sex education, which is also contained in the RH bill, should be institutionalized.

“Many young children think they will not get pregnant the first time. Many people do not understand what the act of sex is… Without the guidance of parents, the school should provide sex education,” she said.

Legarda cited a recent study which showed that nine in 10 children have seen pornography on the Internet, while teenage pregnancy rate in the country was a notch below that of the United Kingdom’s.

On the Corona impeachment

The impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Coronal last May 29 infringed upon judiciary independence, according to the GSIS lawyer.

“Yes to a certain extent [it has infringed upon judicial independence]. I felt that the grounds were not really impeachable offenses,” she said.

The Senate impeachment court found Corona guilty of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution after failing to faithfully declare the extent of his wealth in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

Asked how she would want to be remembered as a chief justice, Legarda said, “Someone who has always been fair.”

On the second day of the JBC interviews Wednesday, two Supreme Court Associate Justices Arturo Brion and Roberto Abad will be interviewed, as well as lawyer Rafael Morales, former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law Raul Pangalangan, Commissioner Rene Sarmiento of the Commission on Elections, and retired Judge Manuel Siayngco Jr.

The panel interviews are scheduled until Friday. — VS, GMA News

source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story...he-philippines

[aaroncm]

Dean Diokno has a great vision for the Judiciary. I hope he becomes an associated justice at the least