(Eagle News) — The new Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro started her first day as head of the Supreme Court assuring the public of the judiciary’s independence, and urging everybody, especially her critics, to “move on” for the good of the whole judiciary.
“I think we should all move on and work together for the good of our judiciary. Let’s put the past behind us,” she said in her first press briefing as chief justice of Supreme Court.
“But of course we should not forget the lessons that we learned in that event in the history of the judiciary,” referring to the ouster of predecessor Maria Lourdes Sereno through a majority vote.
With her appointment, De Castro, 69, becomes the 24th Chief Justice of the Philippines and technically is the “first woman chief justice” after the appointment by former President Benigno Aquino III of Sereno was declared null and void by the Supreme Court voting 8-6 in favor of the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General.
De Castro will only be serving as Chief Justice for 41 days since she is set to retire on her 70th birthday on October 8 this year, thus surpassing the record of former Chief Justice Pedro Yap as being the shortest tenured Chief Justice. The late Chief Justice Yap only served for two and a half months from April 19, 1988 to June 30, 1988.
“We truly would like to elicit your support for the success of the projects of the judiciary and the good image that the judiciary will have among our people,” she said at the start of the press briefing.
She said she was happy that the whole Supreme Court had warmly welcomed her, including her colleagues at the tribunal who applauded her on their first meeting since she was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as Chief Justice on Tuesday, August 28.
-Support of colleagues at SC-
“I’m happy that I have the support of all of my colleagues. They were all present during my first day of work. I appreciate very much the warm welcome that I get from all of them,” she said.
“There was applause coming from them when we first saw each other. And they all congratulated me. I did not perceive any untoward feeling. I’m so happy that I get the support from all of them.”
De Castro said that the Supreme Court has been working normally even when Sereno had been ousted from office.
“There was no disruption as to how we do things normally during the en banc session,” she said.
-De Castro: “Look at my track record”-
Asked how she viewed commentaries by critics that her appointment was a “reward” for speaking out against Sereno during impeachment hearings, De Castro said her critics should instead look at her track record of 45 years of service in the judiciary.
“I think people should look at my track record, my long service to the judiciary. I don’t think that one incident would have been enough for me to be elevated to this highest position in the judiciary,” De Castro stressed.
De Castro first served as a lawyer in the Supreme Court for five years, starting out as a law clerk and legal and judicial assistant in the high court from 1973 to 1978. She was then appointed as Department of Justice State Counsel in 1978 and later promoted to senior state counsel (1985-1987), supervising state counsel and chief of the legal staff (1988-1989), and State Counsel V and Legal Staff head from 1989 to 1995, thus serving in the DOJ for 19 years.
She was then promoted to the Sandiganbayan in 1997 and eventually became presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan in 2004, until 2007 when she was appointed to the high court as Associate Justice by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
She has thus been a justice of the Supreme Court since 2007, and is the second most senior associate justice after Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who had earlier declined to be nominated as the next Chief Justice.
-Time-honored tradition of seniority upheld-
After De Castro was appointed on Tuesday by President Duterte, she thanked him for “upholding the time honored tradition of seniority in the Supreme Court.”
“Seniority is important because one who is senior will have a vast experience as to the workings of the Court. It is expected that the senior members of the Court will have the respect of the rest of the Court,” she said.
“We would like to express our appreciation that the president has that strong political will to see to it that the merit system which is the hallmark of public appointments in public service is followed, and upholding the time honored tradition of seniority in the Supreme Court,” she said during the press briefing.
De Castro said she “will have no problem with maintaining the independence of the judiciary.”
“I’d like to inform everyone that up to this time I have not met the President, I’ve not seen him. I have not approached him whether indirectly or through anybody. So he appointed me without knowing me personally. I don’t think that the president will do anything that will impair the independence of the judiciary,” she explained.
Her appointment comes amid the filing of an impeachment complaint against her and six other Associate Justices of the Supreme Court for alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for voting to oust Sereno in the quo warranto petition.
(Eagle News Service)