Carpio: ‘No reason to decline’ chief justice nomination

Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who had refused to vie for the seat vacated by the ousted Maria Lourdes Sereno, now has "no reason" to turn down the nomination for chief justice.

On Wednesday, Carpio said he has "no reason to decline" his automatic nomination to succeed Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, who will retire next week after serving a term of little over a month.

But Carpio said he has not yet accepted the seniority-based nomination.

The Judicial and Bar Council will accept applications and requirements until October 15.

The five most senior justices of the High Court are automatically nominated for chief magistrate. Apart from Carpio, these are Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, and Estela Perlas-Bernabe.

Bersamin, who was shortlisted to replace Sereno, has already accepted the nomination and re-submitted his requirements, a source said Tuesday.

To recall, Carpio had declined his chief justice nomination following Sereno's ouster, saying he did not want to benefit from a decision he had voted against.

In a majority vote last May, the high court unseated Sereno over her alleged failure to file some mandatory asset declarations.

While Carpio found that Sereno had repeatedly failed to file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, he opined that only Congress can remove impeachable officers from office.

"To allow any other method is to rewrite the Constitution. To permit this quo warranto petition to remove an incumbent member of this Court is to violate the Constitution," he wrote in his dissenting opinion. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News