The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) submitted to President Duterte on Monday afternoon, March 22, its nominees to the chief justice post which will be vacated on March 27 with the early retirement of Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.
Nominated by the JBC – in alphabetical order – are Associate Justices Alexander Gahon Gesmundo, Ramon Paul Layugan Hernando, and Estela Marcelino Perlas Bernabe.
Under the Constitution, the President has 90 days from March 27 to appoint Peralta’s replacement.
The JBC is the constitutional office that accepts, screens and nominates appointments to the judiciary.
Based on seniority in the current SC membership, Bernabe is the most senior followed by Gesmundo and Hernando, in that order.
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 (CA) 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.