CJ Bersamin retires today

Imagine if we had a setup similar to the United States, where SC justices have no retirement age. Their tenure as Justice ends only when they die, retire, resign or are removed by impeachment.

Chief Justice (CJ) Lucas Bersamin retires today, 18 October, his 70th birthday. After having a stellar career in the judiciary, CJ Bersamin steps down untarnished from the highest judicial post in the land — something lawyers like myself can only dream of. He enjoyed a short stint of 11 months, but much longer than his predecessor CJ Teresita Leonardo-de Castro at 1.5 months. The trend in appointments made by President Rodrigo Duterte as it appears should favor those who are not far from the President’s age.

If there’s one thing that may have stained CJ Bersamin’s career, it was his interview on the decision of the Supreme Court to defer voting on the Presidential Electoral Tribunal case filed by Bongbong Marcos against Vice President Leni Robredo, the most anticipated political case pending in his SC. In a press conference last Wednesday, he admitted that he did not want to take part in the vote. He said, “You know this is something that I will tell you — I wanted to delay the vote because I did not like to take part in it, because I did not like the public, like the media, speculating that I cooked or orchestrated the result. But I always told you — hindi pwede magluto dito sa Supreme Court dahil ang daming involved (you cannot rig things here in the Supreme Court because there are so many people involved), but the en banc prevailed on me to take the vote yesterday.”

Do not get me wrong, I like CJ Bersamin. He was a maverick CJ whose advocacies for reform, especially in the Bar exams, are hopefully carried through by the SC. His speeches show his prowess in handling the audience, may it be members of the Judiciary, the Bar, academe, and the general public. He is, after all, from the Bersamin political family of Abra that is raring a comeback against the Valeras, led by incumbent Abra Governor Maria Jocelyn Valera-Bernos. However, the admission he made suggests that he was cornered in a checkmate by the media, and the freely-given admission itself showed a bit of carelessness from a man who knows he will be retiring in two days.

I do not want to second-guess his intentions but the people are now speculating. Did CJ Bersamin say this because he would like a quiet life after today? If he decided to vote against the petition of Marcos, it is highly expected that the loyalists will hound his political family in the north. Practicality dictates that delaying the difficult vote to the next CJ was the wisest thing to do. This is precisely why we have a SC spokesperson: The CJ must be shielded from the nagging of the media to avoid slip-ups such as this.

Quite possibly, politics came to play in the SC, which should, at least on paper, have nothing to do with politics. Imagine if we had a setup similar to the United States, where SC justices have no retirement age. Their tenure as justice ends only when they die, retire, resign or are removed by impeachment. The age of 70 is young enough for a retired justice to pursue other careers in politics — see now Marinduque Governor, former SC Justice Presbiterio Velasco — and business — see former CJ Artemio Panganiban, an independent director in several top companies. Maybe 70 is the new 60, and we can blame this on advances in medical technology. Should we amend the 1987 Constitution, the retirement age could be totally removed, or bumped up to 80 years old.

What is most certain is that President Duterte will be picking a new CJ among three nominees of the Judicial and Bar Council: Justices Diosdado Peralta, Estelita Perlas-Bernabe, and Andy Reyes. Notably, Justice Joey Reyes was omitted from the list of nominees for reasons I am unsure of. Regardless, the three shortlisted make up a credible roster of decorated and capable justices to take the helm as CJ.

Who should the President appoint? All are deserving, but to take my cue from CJ Bersamin who said that we all have biases, my personal bias is in favor of my alma mater, Ateneo de Manila, the law school of Reyes and Perlas-Bernabe. Among the two, I’d say Reyes has an edge with the President’s penchant in appointing sooner-to-be-retired justices. Reyes turns 70 next year, on 11 May 2020, making room for another CJ appointment. Full disclosure of my further bias — Reyes is my fraternity brod in Utopia Ateneo Law. But political-wise, more CJ appointed are better for the President. All things equal, I wish my best to Peralta, Perlas-Bernabe and Reyes!

Speaking of my alma mater, tonight, 18 October 2019 will be the Ateneo Law Homecoming, organized by the Ateneo Law Alumni Association Inc. at Makati Shangri-La, entitled “Paint the Town Blue,” hosted by the Ateneo Law School Class of 1995. Festivities will start at 6 p.m. with tickets priced at P2,000. See you there!