The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will conduct a public interview on Friday, March 12, of the three aspirants to the chief justice post which will be vacated on March 27 with the early retirement of Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.
To be interviewed online starting at 9 a.m. are Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas Bernabe and Associate Justices Alexander G. Gesmundo and Ramon Paul L. Hernando.
SC Spokesperson lawyer Brian Keith F. Hosaka said arrangements were being finalized for the live broadcast of the interview via the government’s television network PTV4.
The JBC has announced that “the public may submit a sworn complaint, report or opposition against any of the candidates” through personal delivery, via email to [email protected] or by facsimile to 02-85229607 on or before March 15, 2021.
The three justices are the only aspirants to Peralta’s post when the JBC officially terminated its search last Feb. 26.
Under JBC rules, there must be at least three nominees for every vacant post in the judiciary from whom President Duterte will choose a replacement.
Legal circles said they do not expect any of the three aspirants not to hurdle the public interview, nor do they see any reason for the President to return to the JBC the council’s nominations for further search.
Once a new chief justice is appointed, the JBC will then open its search for the position of associate justice, a post which would be vacated by whoever will be appointed head of the judiciary.
Bernabe will mandatorily retire on May 14, 2022; Gesmundo on Nov. 6, 2026; and Hernando on Aug. 27, 2036.
Bernabe was appointed to the SC on Sept. 16, 2011. She was a judge of the metropolitan trial court and regional trial court before her appointment to the Court of Appeals in 2004.
Gesmundo was appointed SC associate justice on Aug. 14, 2017. His SC appointment was a promotion from his associate justice post in the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court.
Hernando, on the other hand, was appointed to the SC on Oct. 10, 2018. He was a government prosecutor, a judge of the regional trial court, and CA associate justice.
Both Gesmundo and Hernando are SC appointees of President Duterte.
Late last year, Peralta announced his early retirement or one year ahead of his compulsory retirement at age 70 on March 27, 2022. It was approved by the SC as a full court early this year.
Neither the SC nor Peralta has disclosed the reason for the early retirement.