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Chief Justice De Castro retires


Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, the shortest-serving chief justice of the Philippine Supreme Court, has retired.

De Castro reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 on Wednesday, after leading the judiciary for little over a month at the tail-end of her 10-year career as a high court justice.

The veteran judiciary worker, who has 45 years of government service under her belt, was honored in retirement rites last Friday and bid farewell to court officials and employees at her last SC flag-raising ceremony as an incumbent on Monday.

Having followed the controversial ouster of ex-chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, De Castro's appointment to the high court was suspected by critics to have been a "reward" for her anti-Sereno vote in the landmark judicial case.

But President Rodrigo Duterte said his choice was based on seniority.

At the time, De Castro was the second most-senior justice after Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

De Castro herself said her critics ought to look at her track record, which has taken her from the SC, the Department of Justice, the Sandiganbayan, and back to the high tribunal.

"I think we should all move on and work together for the good of our judiciary," she said during her only press conference as chief justice.

Recently, De Castro concurred in the unanimous high court decision that set aside the contested 50-percent shading threshold in the vote recount between Vice President Leni Robredo and former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

She also joined the majority in upholding the Ombudsman's finding of probable cause to charge former senator Jinggoy Estrada with plunder.

As a Sandiganbayan justice, she penned the decision that convicted former president Joseph Estrada of plunder.

At the SC, she concurred with the majority decision allowing the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, and with the ruling that rejected the legal challenges to the one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao.

'Token of appreciation'

On her way out of the Court, De Castro announced a "token of appreciation" for SC employees which turned out to be a special fringe benefit authorized by the justices.

Her office reported 32 administrative matters approved by the en banc under her leadership, including a go-signal on the purchase request for the construction of the Hall of Justice in Tanay, Rizal, among other developments in infrastructure projects.

The Court also approved some expedited appointments, the reinstatement of expense allowance/reimbursement of Philippine Judicial Academy staff, an increase in mediators' fees in first and second level courts, the grant of fringe benefits to judiciary personnel, an an increase in the budget for retirement activities for SC justices, among others, her office said.

During her last flag ceremony, she was welcomed by SC staff with balloons, ribbons, a "thank-you" tarpaulin, a red carpet, and a live marching band.

"I've tried my best so that my presence will be most felt not only by the employees of the Court but also of our judges and justices nationwide. I hope you have felt it," she said on Monday.

The application period for aspirants to the now-vacant chief justice seat will end on October 15. Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin has already accepted his automatic nomination, and Carpio has said he no longer has any reason to decline his. — RSJ, GMA News

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