JBC to await final SC ruling on Sereno ouster, says DOJ chief

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will wait for the final ruling of the Supreme Court on the ouster of erstwhile Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno before starting the application and nomination process for aspirants to the top post in the judiciary.

Sereno has said that she would file a motion for reconsideration to appeal the SC decision on her quo warranto case, finding her appointment in 2012 as Chief Justice invalid due to her supposed failure to submit the required statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

"The JBC will wait for the finality of the quo warranto decision," said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the council.

Oriental Mindoro representative Reynaldo Umali, also a JBC member, likewise confirmed the information.

Sereno was "ousted and excluded" from after being adjudged by majority of her peers guilty of "unlawfully holding and exercising" the post of Chief Justice.

It was Solicitor General Jose Calida who brought a petition for quo warranto against her in behalf of the Republic of the Philippines.

The pleading sought the nullification of Sereno's appointment as top judge due to a supposed lack of integrity over allegedly missing asset declarations.

Sereno succeeded the late former chief justice Renato Corona, who in 2012 was convicted by the Senate impeachment court of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution for not fully disclosing his wealth. —NB, GMA News