Peralta: 'I was not a topnotcher but I worked hard and deserve to be chief justice'

Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta asserted on Wednesday that he deserved to become the next Supreme Court (SC) chief justice.

Peralta is one of the four magistrates vying for the seat to be vacated by Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin when he retires on October 18.

Appointed to the High Court in 2009, Peralta is the most senior candidate during his third attempt for the chief's post in a year. He is up against Associate Justices Estela Perlas Bernabe, Andres Reyes, Jr., and Jose Reyes, Jr.

The Arroyo appointee told the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) during his interview that he was not competing with his "qualified" co-applicants, his voice breaking when he launched into his closing statement.

"If I remember what I have experienced since I started working, mahirap eh. I think I deserve to be chief justice because I worked very hard all these years," said Peralta, who appeared to be holding back tears.

"I’m not a topnotcher, I'm not an honor student, because that's what they say hindi naman daw ako topnotcher, hindi naman ako honor... but I think I was able to compensate with the work that I had done," he added.

The Laoag native and University of Santo Tomas law alumnus started out as a public prosecutor in 1987 then went on to become a trial court judge, an associate justice and later the presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan, and a professor before he was appointed to the SC.

He urged the JBC to take his work experience into consideration "that there is hope for an individual like me." He apologized for being emotional and said "[t]hat's me. I'm not arrogant, masamang pakinggan."

People vs. Romy Lim

A notable Peralta ponencia is People vs. Romy Lim, where the SC acquitted a man previously convicted of selling shabu because his arresting officers did not follow the chain of custody rule in marking the shabu sachets allegedly found on him in 2010.

In this decision, the SC set a policy for law enforcement to comply with the dangerous drugs law's provision requiring the presence of the proper witnesses during the inventory of seized drugs and to justify any noncompliance.

Peralta said during the JBC interview that he was "shocked" that judges had used the ruling to acquit suspects, explaining that the rules say the court may dismiss the case for lack of probable cause "without prejudice" to refiling.

He said the ruling led to "better filed" cases and will also help the accused "because if the case is properly built up... the accused can intelligently prepare before trial."

In recent years, Peralta voted in favor of martial law in Mindanao and its subsequent extensions; the ouster of former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno; and the continued detention of Senator Leila de Lima.

Peralta concurred in the Bernabe ponencia that declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel as unconstitutional. He also voted in favor of the acquittal of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of plunder over the P365-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office intelligence fund scam.

He wrote the decision for the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the ruling that retroacted Republic Act No. 10592, or the expanded law on good conduct time allowances, which can reduce the sentence of an inmate who complies with prison rules.

Peralta will retire from the SC when he turns 70 in 2022. — MDM, GMA News