Leonen says he's currently 'not cut out' for chief justice

Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, one of the tribunal's most senior magistrates, on Friday said he believes he is currently "not cut out" for chief justice.

Leonen will be automatically nominated for chief justice when Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta retires in March, one year ahead of his mandatory retirement age.

"No comment yet," Leonen said when asked if he will accept. "I am honored to have been automatically nominated, but that is also a function of seniority."

"But of course in my mind I am looking at what I should do, and more likely, I am better at supporting a chief justice rather than being one. But as I said, no comment," he said at a press conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

When Peralta retires, the five most senior justices in terms of the year of appointment — Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Leonen, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Alexander Gesmundo, and Ramon Paul Hernando — will be automatically nominated to succeed him, subject to their confirmation.

Leonen declined chief justice nominations in the past few years.

In 2018, after the ouster of then-chief magistrate Maria Lourdes Sereno, Leonen said the post "requires some sort of a capacity or an attitude that right now I cannot imagine myself doing."

On Friday, he said leadership, management skills, and the ability to communicate the judiciary's ideas to public forums and other government agencies are required of a chief justice.

"There are people that are cut to become chief justice. There are people that are better to become associate justices or senior associate justices for that matter. And there are also people that are better writing majority opinions or even dissenting opinions and I think each of us will have their own role," he said. 

"Not all of us really want to become Chief Justice, because of the awesome responsibility in that," he added.

Asked if he thinks he fits the role, he said: "No, I’m not cut out for chief justice at the current time." He also declined to disclose whom he believes would be best for the post, saying he respects the President's appointments to the judiciary.

Peralta will retire after serving as chief justice for just little over a year.

His predecessor, Lucas Bersamin, led the judiciary for 11 months. Before Bersamin, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, who replaced Sereno, was chief justice for less than two months.

Leonen said he does not believe that justices having short terms will affect the court's ability to consistently rule on cases.

"I think that even if a person serves for only one year in the court as a justice, it changes the complexion of our deliberations. Every new justice brings in their own ideas, their own standpoint," he said.

He added that it was important for the court to be "diversified" in its thinking to enable good discussions.

"The Supreme Court survives most of us and therefore, what matters is that you have good deliberations," he said.—AOL, GMA News