“The acting chief justice has been vocal of his plan to decline all nominations.

Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio as chairman of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) turned down a proposal from retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. for him to reconsider his rejection of automatic nomination as a contender for the vacant position of Chief Justice.

Davide wrote the JBC asking the body to automatically consider Carpio for a slot in the shortlist for the post even if he does not want to apply. Davide’s proposal was noted by the JBC members during the Friday meeting.

JBC members said automatic nomination will bend the Internal Rules of the JBC since the existing policy is that all nominations shall be with corresponding “acceptance.”

If the automatic nomination is allowed, it will also accord “special treatment” to incumbent SC Justices since they will be allowed to skip the submission of mandatory requirements such as psychiatric testing, waivers of bank accounts, submission of Statements of Assets Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) and all the other documentary requirements imposed by the council.

Under JBC rules, the five most senior justices of the Supreme Court (SC) gets automatic nominations to the shortlist but Carpio said the candidate’s acceptance must be attached before it can be considered.

The acting chief justice has been vocal of his plan to decline all nominations for the top post in the judiciary, saying he doesn’t want to benefit from the quo warranto petition that ousted Sereno.

The JBC shortlist for the post, which was vacated by ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, is expected to be known on 3 August.

“I fully understand the position of Acting Chief Justice Carpio. A high sense of delicadeza was in his mind because he voted for the dismissal of the quo warranto on the ground that impeachment is the only process prescribed by the Constitution to remove a Chief Justice from office,” Davide wrote.

“He did not want to profit from the result of that he could not accept. I finally pray for acting Chief Justice Carpio to reconsider his stand. He had earlier been by-passed twice. Delicadeza should no longer be invoked because the decision in the quo warranto case is final. It has become the law of the case,” Davide added.

Aside from Carpio, the four most senior justices include Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin.

Velasco and De Castro, however, are mandated to retire in August and October this year, respectively.

The post of chief justice became vacant after Sereno was ousted by the High Tribunal en banc with a vote of 8 against 6 through quo warranto proceedings.

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