DE LIMA ACCEPTS CJ NOMINATION / NOY PREFERS DE LIMA STAY AS
DOJ CHIEF
MANILA, JULY 3, 2012
(INQUIRER) By Marlon Ramos, Tetch Torres - Justice
Secretary Leila de Lima (photo) on Sunday made a pilgrimage to the
miraculous Our Lady of Manaoag Shrine in Pangasinan to seek divine intercession
before she announced that she wished to become Chief Justice.
On the eve of the final day for accepting nominations for the post vacated by
Renato Corona, whom she helped oust as a witness for the prosecution in his
impeachment trial, De Lima said she wanted to seek guidance on what she said
could be a life-altering decision.
Now, the woman, who defied a Supreme Court order that would have allowed
former President and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to leave
the country before a warrant could be issued for her arrest in December last
year, said she was prepared to take a shot at the country's highest judicial
office.
"After a deeper reflection and further consultations with my family and close
confidants, and amidst my initial hesitance and apprehensions, I now feel that I
will be up to the challenge and will now take on the challenge," De Lima, 52,
said in a text message.
"I'll be honored to submit myself to the scrutiny of my peers at the JBC
(Judicial and Bar Council) and the general public, for eventual consideration of
the President," she said.
As justice secretary, De Lima sits in the JBC—the body created by the
Constitution to screen applicants for the top judicial posts—as one of four
ex-officio members.
Another JBC ex-officio member, acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, has also
signified his intention to join the selection process for the 24th Chief Justice
of the Philippines.
Both De Lima and Carpio said they would inhibit themselves from the JBC's
selection of the new Chief Justice.
De Lima said she decided to accept her nomination after she met with
President Benigno Aquino on Friday. She said the President told her that "he
will respect my decision to accept my nomination."
Guiding light
In previous interviews, De Lima said she was having second thoughts about the
job.
To firm up her decision, De Lima said she went on Sunday to Our Lady of
Manaoag Shrine where she said she "prayed hard and sought further enlightenment
and blessing."
"I always do that whenever I need to make crucial decisions and confronted
with major challenges. Mama Mary is my constant source of guiding light," she
said.
If appointed by the President, De Lima would be the first female Chief
Justice of the Philippines.
Following the controversies generated by Corona's removal from office last
month, De Lima said "what the judiciary needs is an effective and trusted leader
capable of transforming the institution into a citadel of hope."
"That, to me, is the call of the times," she said. "I sincerely believe that,
at the minimum, I have my character and resolve as a person, and my track record
and passion as a public servant, to offer for such a crucial and revered post."
Touted as among the heavyweight contenders for the position, De Lima earned
her law degree from San Beda University in 1985 and placed eighth in the bar
examinations that year.
14 accept nomination
The eldest daughter of former Election Commissioner Vicente de Lima, the
justice secretary was an election lawyer before she was appointed by Arroyo as
chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights in 2008.
As of Friday, the JBC had received 67 recommendations and applications for
the Chief Justice position.
But only 14 of the nominees had officially signified their intention to join
the JBC selection process, which would be open to live media coverage for the
first time.
Among those who have accepted their nominations were Supreme Court Associate
Justices Arturo Brion and Roberto Abad, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno,
law professor Soledad Cagampang De Castro, women's rights lawyer Katrina
Legarda, Rafael Morales, former University of the Philippines law deans Raul
Pangalangan and Vicente Velasquez, Election Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, lawyer
Manuel Siayngco, former Ateneo de Manila University law dean Cesar Villanueva,
former San Juan Representative Ronaldo Zamora and former University of the East
law dean Amado Valdez.
FROM THE PHILSTAR
'Noy prefers De Lima to stay as DOJ chief' (The
Philippine Star) Updated July 02, 2012 04:35 PMComments (0)
MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III (photo)
would want Secretary Leila de Lima to stay in the Department of Justice (DOJ), a
Malacañang official said Monday.
"The secretary of justice and [Internal Revenue chief] Kim Henares are
important assets in his (President Aquino's) administration. His initial
preference was for them to stay," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said
at a briefing in Malacañang.
Lacierda, however, said that President Aquino had to respect De Lima's
decision to accept her nomination to the judiciary's top postition. Henares,
meanwhile, has officially decline her nomination.
The presidential spokesperson, meanwhile, brushed aside speculations that
President Aquino would favor De Lima's nomination for chief justice.
He also denied that President Aquino has assured De Lima that she would be
nominated to the post.
De Lima had announced that she accepted her nomination for chief justice
after a brief talk with President Aquino on Friday. The justice secretary
announced her decision to accept her nomination on Sunday.
"I had a brief talk with the President wherein he said he will respect my
decision to accept the nomination for chief justice," De Lima said.
Lacierda said that President Aquino would not be able to make sure that the
position will go to De Lima, since she, like any other nominees and applicants,
will go through the Judicial and Bar Council's (JBC) strict selection process.
"You cannot have the assurance because she has to go through a JBC
screening," he said.
As the submission of nominations and applications ends on Monday (July 2) , a
total of 71 people have been nominated for chief justice. Of the figure, 22
accepted their nominations and 21 declined.
The JBC's deadline for the submission of nominations and applications for
chief justice ends Monday (July 2). It said it will make public its list of
nominees by Friday. The names that will be announced will go through the JBC's
public interview.
Sen. Francis Escudero, a member of the JBC, said that the council will submit
the shortlist to President Aquino by July 30.
Lacierda, meanwhile, said that De Lima need not resign from her position
during the JBC's screening process.
"We don't think so. The business of the DOJ is too important to be left to an
underling," he said when asked if De Lima should resign after accepting her
nomination.
He added that preparing for the public interview would not take too much of
De Lima's time, since it would "only involve questions of law."
De Lima is among the most prominent candidate for chief justice along with an
Aquino appointee, SC Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
She has the most number of nominations received by the JBC.
She was endorsed by Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding
chairman Dante Jimenez; chairperson of the executive council of the Bangsamoro
Party (BMP) and Lanao Sultan Firdausi Abbas; Integrated Bar of the Philippines
(IBP)- Zambales president Christopher Lawrence Monato, Civil Service assistant
commissioner Rogelio Limare; former defense secretary Avelino Cruz; Court of
Appeals Associate Justice Francisco Acosta, and lawyer Reynaldo Bagatsing.
Although she has no experience in the judiciary and is considered an
"outsider" in the SC, the nominations cited her "utmost competence, diligence,
probity and independence."
President Aquino is reportedly considering appointing an outsider in the
judiciary as the next chief justice.
FROM THE TRIBUNE
Noynoy anoints De Lima for job 'to reclaim SC'
Written by Tribune Monday, 02 July 2012 00:00 font size Print 2
comments
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Palace gameplan for the
reclaiming of the Supreme Court (SC) would have the person who coined the
campaign as the one taking over its helm after Justice Secretary Leila de
Lima (photo) accepted the nomination for the vacant Supreme Court chief
justice post yesterday supposedly on the behest of President
Aquino.
Aquino convinced De Lima at a meeting to accept being among the
nominees in the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) shortlist from which Aquino will
pick the next chief justice, according to a source in the Palace.
De Lima
said she accepted the nomination after "a deeper reflection and further
consultations with my family and close confidants, and amidst my initial
hesitance and apprehensions."
"I now feel that I will be up to the
challenge and will now take on the challenge," she added.
It was De Lima
who said last December when the impeachment trial that ousted former Chief
Justice Renato Corona was just starting that Aquino was "reclaiming the court
for the people."
"The Supreme Court belongs to the people," De Lima said in a statement three
days after Aquino's allies in Congress moved to impeach Chief Justice Renato
Corona.|
"And when the Arroyo justices start thinking that in protecting
(former President Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo, they are shorn of any
accountability, not even by impeachment, then it is time the people, through
their representatives in Congress, impeach them. It is time the President and
Congress reclaim the Court for the people," she added.
Deputy
presidential spokesman Abigail Valte divulged Aquino's one and only meeting with
De Lima.
De Lima, however, has yet to clear herself on the disbarment
case filed against her by lawyer Agustin Sundiam for making disparaging remarks
against Corona.
It was for the same reason that Sen. Panfilo Lacson saw
the justice secretary as being disqualified from being nominated to the chief
justice post due to the pending disbarment case.
The disbarment case
against De Lima was filed at the Supreme Court by Sundiam against de Lima for
calling then Chief Justice Corona "a lawless tyrant" before a national
television audience.
The case was referred to the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines for validation and recommendation to the high
tribunal.
Despite restrictions disqualifying her from being nominated as
the next chief magistrate, de Lima appears to be the only SC nominee with whom
the President talked.
In a radio press briefing aired over government
station DZRB, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said President
Aquino met de Lima two days before the justice chief announced her acceptance
ofthe nomination as chief justice.
Pressed for details, Valte said the
President actually met de Lima before the Cabinet meeting Friday afternoon. She
however declined to elaborate on the details of the meeting claiming limited
knowledge.
"What I know is Secretary De Lima met with the President along
with Secretaries Edwin Lacierda, Florencio Abad and Jesse Robredo Friday morning
before the Cabinet meeting for the presentation of the proposed 2013 budget,"
said the same Palace official who hinted on the President wanting to see de Lima
and another presidential appointee Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares, who
was also nominated to become the high tribunal's new chief magistrate.
"I
don't know if the meeting was on Department of Justice matters, I don't have
information if she was able to meet with the President one-on-one on the matter
of her nomination," she added.
De Lima, who had an active part as
prosecution witness in a Senate impeachment case against former Chief Justice
Corona, has accepted her nomination for the Chief Justice post left vacant by
the same person being tried in the case where she testified.
The Senate
impeachment court found Corona guilty by a vote of 20-3 last May 29.
De
Lima was nominated by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, the Zambales
Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and Civil Service Commission
Assistant Commissioner Rogelio Limare.
Aquino earlier expressed
preference for De Lima to remain at the DoJ, even as the Malacanang chief
executive cited her for being an effective DOJ chief.
Aside from the
justice secretary, there are also nominees sitting as member of the Judicial Bar
Council, which is mandated to administer the nomination, acceptance, screening
and preparing the short-list from where President Aquino would be made to choose
one to become the next SC chief magistrate.
Likewise nominated to the top
SC post are Aquino's appointees — Solictor General Francis Jardeleza and
Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
