JUSTICE Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday insisted that she will stand by her decision and submit to the selection process of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the body tasked to screen applicants and nominees for judicial posts and those of Ombudsman and deputy ombudsmen.
“It’s our individual decision. I’m just offering myself as an alternative to the insiders, to the other contenders, so tingnan natin [we’ll see] if JBC [will] consider me as fit enough for that post and if shortlisted, if the President [will] also think that I’m worthy of that post,” de Lima said.
She also rejected the call by House Minority Leader Neptali Gonzales 2nd for her to withdraw from the race for the post vacated by former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Gonzales said that the acceptance of de Lima and Associate Justice Antonio Carpio of their nomination could put President Benigno Aquino 3rd in a bad light since it “may give life to the statement of former Chief Justice Corona that he was deliberately removed to be replaced by another who has close ties with the chief executive.”
But the justice chief said that she is merely offering herself as an alternative to the Supreme Court insiders. De Lima said she considers the High Court’s Senior Justices as the strong aspirants for the position of chief magistrate.
Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who is a member of the JBC, said that they are more interested to know why De Lima accepted her nomination despite the fact that she is not only a close ally of President Aquino but also took part in the impeachment proceedings that ousted Corona.
Escudero, an ex-officio member of the JBC, on Tuesday said that he would personally ask de Lima, when she undergoes a public interview, on the reasons why she is interested to hold the top post in the Judiciary.
In accepting her nomination, de Lima said that she has the “character, records and passion [needed] for such a crucial and revered post.”