2 senior SC justices accept nomination — DOJ exec

Two Supreme Court Associate Justices have accepted the nomination to be the next chief justice, GMA News' Dano Tingcungco reported.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who is also an ex-officio member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), has confirmed that SC Associate Justices Lucas Bersamin and Diosado Peralta have consented to be in the list of individuals who will be considered to succeed Chief Justice Teresita de Castro.

Bersamin and Peralta were already previously shortlisted for the position.

The JBC was convened again to choose the successor of De Castro, who retired after only spending 41 days at the post. She reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 on October 8.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio earlier said that there was no reason for him to decline the nomination.

Carpio had declined the nomination for the post after the ouster of Maria Lourdes Sereno through a quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida that questioned Sereno's integrity over the alleged non-filing of some mandatory asset declarations. Sereno's motion for reconsideration was also quashed by the High Court.

The most senior justices of the High Court are automatically nominated for chief magistrate, including Associate Justices Mariano del Castillo, and Estela Perlas-Bernabe. — BAP, GMA News