SENIOR Associate Justice Marvic Leonen on Thursday told the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) that he would not compromise his principles just to secure the Chief Justice (CJ) position.
Leonen is one of the five incumbent justices of the Supreme Court (SC) applying for the CJ post that will be vacated by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo upon his compulsory retirement at age 70 on November 6.
In his opening statement during the start of the JBC’s public interview of the candidates, Leonen said the country needs a CJ who is ‘independent, principled, and willing to make hard decisions’ considering the current political and economic challenges being experienced by the people.
Leonen noted that he had previously voted on principle against the legal positions of the late President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino Jr., who appointed him to the High Tribunal, and other presidents that came after him.
‘I have accepted the nomination, but also know that leadership gained by compromising principle is not worth it. If that what is demanded, leadership does not always require entitlement,’ Leonen stressed. Leonen recently came out with a ruling declaring the 2024 and 2025 national budgets signed by President Marcos Jr. as unconstitutional as well as key provisions in the 2026 national budget.
With less than two years in office, Marcos will get the chance to appoint the next CJ upon Gesmundo’s retirement.
Under the Constitution, the President is mandated to make appointments in the judiciary within 90 days from the occurrence of the Former Vice President Leni Robredo is pushing for Leonen’s appointment as chief magistrates, underscoring his ‘competence, independence, probity, and integrity.’
Inventory of corruption cases
During his interview, Leonen disclosed his nine commitments if ever he gets appointed as the head of the judiciary, which includes the conduct of an independent inventory of major corruption cases that have been filed before the courts since 1986 to determine the reasons for their dismissal or conviction.
Leonen said he has started negotiations for the resources from the Official Development Assistance for the project.
‘A corruption case that is allowed to age becomes unwinnable by operation of a constitutional right, and no one has to be bribed for that to happen,’ Leonen stressed.
He added that cases filed by the Office of the Ombudsman arising from large-scale corruption be decided at first instance before the end of 2027.
‘The commitment is to decide, never to convict,’ he pointed out.
He added that courts, including the SC, should commit to a timetable for every case, saying that a delay in the resolution of a case can be considered ‘a denial and a betrayal.’
‘When a case before us is submitted for decision, the party should be told the date by which we expect to decide it, and if the date will not be met, told why before it passes,’ Leonen said.
billboards do the job socmed
Likewise, Leonen said he would push for the conduct of a comprehensive review of admission to the Bar and the recognition of Shari’a counselors as special members of the Integrated Bar and to open paths for more people to become Shari’ah lawyers.
He noted that at present there are only 1,612 Shari’ah counselors.
Judicial review of regulatory actions
Leonen also committed to consult with the members of the business sector about examining the rules on judicial review of regulatory actions.
He disclosed that a private organization has already held focus group discussion on its members’ perception of the judiciary and their principal concerns.
‘We are studying the results, unfortunately it is undergoing deliberations with the Court and I cannot share them,’ Leonen told the JBC.
Leonen also vowed to come up with a mechanism for business organizations to report illegal exaction made by any court of court employee.
‘We will tell them what we did with each report, with an indicative timetable of the results we expect,’ Leonen said.
Aside from Leonen, other candidates for the post are Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, Rodil V. Zalameda, Japar B. Dimaampao, and Jose Midas P. Marquez.
Leonen and Caguioa were both scheduled for a public interview Thursday while the interview of Zalameda, Dimaampao, and Marquez will be done on Monday, October 26.