No special favors for Leonen among SC post aspirants — Palace spokesman

Even though government peace negotiator Marvic Leonen is admittedly the most visible among the aspirants for the vacant associate justice post at the Supreme Court, a Malacañang spokesman said Wednesday that his current position does not give him an edge over the other nominees. “It is no secret that the President has dealt with him; has worked with him primarily because of the peace negotiations, but [the President] will give an even chance to all the nominees of the vacancy for the position of associate justice,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at a briefing. 

 

Earlier in the day, the Judicial and Bar Council submitted seven names shortlisted for the position vacated by current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Maria Lourdes Sereno. Among them was Leonen, former University of the Philippines law dean and current chief of the panel talking peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The others are:

• Court of Appeals Associate Justice Rosemari D. Carandang,
• former Department of Energy Secretary Raphael Perpetuo M. Lotilla,
• CA Presiding Justice Andres B. Reyes Jr.,
• CA Associate Justice Jose C. Reyes Jr.,
• CA Associate Justice Noel G. Tijam, and
• founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law Jose Manuel Diokno

 

Lacierda revealed that in the coming weeks, Aquino will be talking personally with all the  nominees, a practice he started during the much-publicized selection of the chief justice last August, following former CJ Renato Corona’s ouster in May.

 

“Well, the President will give an opportunity for all the nominees for the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court to be interviewed. He will have a chance to meet all of them,” Lacierda said. 

 

“He has done that with the position of the Chief Justice when he met with, I think, most of the nominees for the Supreme Court chief justice. So it’s going to be a standard procedure for the President to meet with the nominees for vacant [positions] in the Supreme Court,” he also said.

 

Lacierda added that while Aquino knows Leonen’s skills on the negotiating table, the associate justice position is something entirely different.

 

“We’re now dealing with his views, for instance, on the judiciary. So that’s something that the President has not discussed with Dean Marvic Leonen,” Lacierda said. — Patricia Denise Chiu/RSJ, GMA News