Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Friday, May 13, said it is “up to President Duterte to appoint” the replacement for Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas Bernabe who retires on Saturday, May 14.
“PRRD (President Duterte) may still exercise his prerogative to appoint the next associate justice (AJ) before June 30, or leave it to the incoming President to make the appointment after June 30,” Guevarra said.
Under the Constitution, the President is mandated to appoint a replacement for a retired member of the judiciary within 90 days from the date of vacancy.
Guevarra admitted he has no information as to what the President will do concerning the vacancy at the SC.
“I am not privy, however, to any plan or agreement regarding the appointment of the next AJ of the Supreme Court,” he said.
Justice Bernabe on Saturday turns 70, the mandatory retirement age for members of the judiciary.
She served the judiciary for more than 25 years as trial court judge and appellate court justice. She was promoted to the SC on Sept. 16, 2011 after her seven-year stint as Court of Appeals (CA) justice.
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has submitted to President Duterte a list of six appellate court justices as nominees to the post of Bernabe as associate justice.
Nominated were, in alphabetical order, Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Ramon Alcala Cruz and Maria Elisa Sempio Diy, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Geraldine Faith Abracia Econg, and CA Associate Justices Ronaldo Roberto Baquizal Martin, Fernanda Lampas Peralta, and Maria Filomena Dumandan Singh.
Following the March 17, 2010 SC decision which became final and executory on April 20, 2010, the President can appoint Bernabe’s replacement.
Settled by the SC in the 2010 decision was the provision in Section 15, Article VII of the Constitution on the ban on appointments by the President two months before the presidential election and up to the end of his/her term.
The 2010 decision ruled that the ban under Section 15, Article VII of the Constitution does not include appointments to fill up a vacant post in the SC.