President Rodrigo Duterte affirmed yesterday his choice of Associate Justice Teresita de Castro as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (SC), a decision which he stressed was solely based on merit and seniority.

Mr. Duterte said he bases his appointments on the time-honored tradition of seniority, may it be in the judiciary, military or civil service.

“Whoever has seniority gets the promotion and that would go for everybody,” said the Chief Executive.

“Everybody, in the military, it follows. No one should be skipped over. In the civil service, no political colors included, that is not allowed. So it will be merit system,” he added.

“I am not familiar with any of them actually. I do not know any justice personally. Truthfully, I have not talked to anyone there. They are all strangers to me,” he added.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano are among those who slammed the 69-year-old De Castro’s elevation to the top seat in the SC, saying De Castro’s appointment was a payback for her testimony during the House impeachment hearings on her predecessor Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Sereno was later removed through a quo warranto petition of Solicitor General Jose Calida that the SC granted.

Chief Justice for 41 days, De Castro’s term will be the shortest in history. She will step down on 8 October when she turns 70, the mandatory age of retirement in the judiciary.

Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go expressed hopes that De Castro will bring back prestige to the SC.

“She is very competent. She has a very good track record in the judiciary, in government…and she has integrity, and I hope she brings back the prestige of the Supreme Court,” Go said.

Let us give her the chance to lead the SC. The President gave her his trust. She is more than able to lead the judiciary and bring back the prestige of the Supreme Court,” Go added.

Apart from being the most senior among the shortlisted nominees, De Castro also has the best track-record among the three senior magistrates applied for the post, said Sen. Richard Gordon, who was an ex-officio member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) that submitted the shortlist to President Duterte.

At the same time, Gordon rejected insinuations that De Castro’s appointment was a reward from Malacañang for her huge role in ousting Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice last May.

“Remember that she has been a justice for a long time, she already has advocacies. She can strengthen her programs,” said Gordon.

“I am just comfortable that she was there, she will know what to do. It’s a great reward for somebody who has been there for a long time,” he added.

Malacañang cited seniority as the primary factor in appointing De Castro over fellow Associate Justices Lucas Bersamin and Diosdado Peralta, who were also nominated by JBC.

The tradition of seniority was broken by former President Aquino when he appointed Sereno as chief justice — the youngest to be appointed as CJ.

Gordon defended Malacanang’s stand on giving priority to seniority — stressing that De Castro has spent the last 10 years with the Supreme Court.

“I was praying for it. For me, among the present batch (of nominees) she has the best record. We should take a break from fighting, then we prepare for a longer term,” said Gordon, apparently noting De Castro only has until October to lead the SC.

De Castro is reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 on 8 October.

Sereno was ousted last May after eight SC justices, including De Castro, Bersamin and Peralta, voted in favor of the quo warranto petition filed against her by Solicitor General Jose Calida.

The quo warranto stemmed from the failure of Sereno to submit required number of Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth to the JBC.

Gordon said that the JBC was very careful this time in scrutinizing the submitted documents of the qualified nominees.

“We were very careful…we covered everything…we even required them to write composition…everybody was active in asking questions,” said Gordon.

De Castro’s appointment offers a very good chance for the ascent of Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio to the top SC position, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said.

Macalintal said it is unfair to insinuate that De Castro’s appointment was a “reward” for allegedly helping the ouster of Sereno.

Carpio, while the most senior among the SC justices, chose to decline his automatic nomination as CJ out of delicadeza, saying he did not want to benefit from the ouster of Sereno.

The Acting Chief Justice has dissented in the vote for the quo warranto petition against Sereno.

Macalintal said a vacancy for the Chief Justice post happens when De Castro retires thus Carpio may no longer decline his automatic nomination to the top judicial post since the issue of delicadeza no longer exists.

Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Abdiel Dan Fajardo said De Castro’s term will serve only as a “transition” for the High Court leadership while solidifying the ouster of Sereno.

“She is a transition chief justice an d her appointment will, in effect, solidify the ruling on the quo warranto petition because that would mean that after the ruling there is finally a new chief justice,” Fajardo said on television.

The IBP president also said that President Rodrigo Duterte had thought about appointing De Castro as chief magistrate so as to have time to think about a “more permanent chief justice.”

“If he subsequently appoints someone who will serve for at least a year, that person can actually be right in the middle of the storm when very important decisions in the court are going to be issued,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo noted that De Castro’s appointment showed a basic rule on how seniority is among the prime factors for choosing the chief justice, which is a “sound” practice.

The House is preparing for impeachment proceedings against De Castro and six other justices stemming from the impeachment complaint filed by opposition congressmen last week.

Mindoro Representative Doy Leachon stressed that the impeachment complaints against De Castro and the other justices are expected to be referred to the House justice committee when Congress resumes its session.

“If it will be referred to us tomorrow, mga 4 September, Tuesday next week, we’ll start with the hearing on the impeachment complaint,” Leachon said in a radio interview. “I would like to sure everyone, especially the complainants as well as the respondents, that we will deal with this complaint transparently and without partiality,” he added.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, on the other hand, earlier expressed hope that De Castro’s appointment as CJ can still be reconsidered given that Malacañang has yet to release her appointment papers.

Lagman is one of those who filed the impeachment complaint, alleging that the magistrates who voted for Sereno’s removal committed culpable violation of the constitution and betrayal of public trust.

Impeachable officers like Sereno can only be removed through impeachment proceedings before Congress, according to Lagman.

“We have to determine whether the complaints are sufficient in form. If those are sufficient in form, we’ll proceed with the substance, just like what we did before,” Leachon added.

The pendency of the impeachment complaint was considered moot and academic, said Leachon with Mr. Duterte’s appointment of De Castro since the cases were not yet referred to the House Committee on Justice.

“The problem here was, number one, it’s already moot and academic to talk about the pendency considering, number one, pending because it has yet to be referred to the committee on justice. And second, there’s already the appointment made by the President, the appointment of CJ. So the issue is moot and academic. Also, the votation as well as the deliberation were made prior to the filing of the case,” Leachon added.

He also cited Francisco vs. House of Representatives, where it is ruled that the pendency of the filing of the impeachment complaint shall be initiated only after the impeachment complaint has been referred to the justice committee.

Leachon said that he is in favor of the seniority or primus inter pares as a major reason of De Castro’s qualification as the new chief justice to maintain the integrity of the court.

He lauded the president for doing “a good job despite the criticisms of so many that CJ De Castro will be sitting only for a period of two months.”

“I adhere to that principle of seniority as a major qualification to be appointed. Nonetheless, if you have to look at the requirements or the qualifications of the sitting chief justice right now.” Leachon added.