(Eagle News) — Four of the five candidates for Chief Justice will automatically be disqualified from vying for the post in the wake of the filing of impeachment complaints against them, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said on Thursday, Aug. 23.
According to Lagman, under the rules of the Judicial and Bar Council, “an applicant who has a pending case is disqualified from being nominated or appointed to any position in the judiciary.”
Of the seven SC Associate Justices facing impeachment complaints filed by Lagman’s group for their vote to oust Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice in May, SC Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Andres Reyes Jr. are vying for the Chief Justice post.
Impeachment complaints were also filed against SC Associate Francis Jardeleza, Alexander Gesmundo, and Noel Tijam.
Lagman said Samuel Martires was not charged even if he voted for Sereno’s ouster as he was no longer a member of the SC, after his appointment as Ombudsman.
“The impeachment complaints are even more than an administrative case,” Lagman said.
Apart from De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin and Reyes, Judge Virginia Tejano-Ang of Tagum City, Davao del Norte Regional Trial Court Branch 1 is vying for the Chief Justice post.