Leonen turns down nomination for Chief Justice anew

Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen has declined his nomination for Chief Justice.

Leonen did not state any reason in turning the nomination down, Court spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said Monday.

In a later statement, Leonen said there is no requirement to state his reasons.

"For now, in my considered judgment, my decision is the right thing to do for myself, this Court and this country. I will be able to do what I do best for our people in my current position at this time," the justice said.

"As always, I am committed to giving my support to whoever is constitutionally appointed as the next Chief Justice," he added.

As one of the five most senior magistrates on the bench, Leonen was automatically nominated to the post that Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin will vacate when he retires in Oct. 18.

After Bersamin, the five most senior justices are Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Leonen, and Francis Jardeleza.

But Leonen will become third most senior when Carpio retires on Oct. 26. Jardeleza will retire on Sept. 26.

In July last year when he was the eighth most senior, Leonen said he did not aspire to be Chief Justice. He declined the nomination to take over the seat left empty by the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

"You have to be able to find a middle ground, you have to have the gravitas to be able to bring people to listen to each other and then later on, come out with the decision," Leonen said at that time.

"Right now, I am more concerned about convincing people about the standpoint that I am presenting," he added.

A former peace negotiator and former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, Leonen was appointed to the high tribunal in 2012, when he was 49 years old. —NB/BM, GMA News