Aquino says JBC should answer questions on Sereno's qualifications

FORMER President Benigno Aquino III said the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) should answer questions on the qualifications of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

The former president, reacting to the graft complaint filed against him and the JBC before the Office of the Ombudsman, said the council is tasked to prequalify an applicant for the position.

He said he picked Sereno from a shortlist of qualified applicants drawn up by the council in 2012.

"Sinasabi nilang kulang 'yung submissions. Eh sila dapat yata ang sumagot no'n, dahil sinabi nila sa akin pagbigay ng listahan, eh qualified 'to," Aquino said.

"The council is saying that Sereno failed to submit all requirements. The council should answer that because the inclusion of Sereno in the list means that she was qualified.)

'Yun 'yung hirap 'no – magbibigay ng listahan, ito ang qualified, mamimili ka ro'n. 'Yung pinili mo, oo nga pala, hindi qualified – ano ba talaga?" the former president added.

(I merely chose from the list that they submitted. It turned out that the person I chose is not qualified.)

In the series of impeachment hearings against Sereno, it was discovered that the JBC approved her application for the top position at the Supreme Court despite her failure to submit her Statement of Assets Liabilities and Networth for the years that she had worked at the University of the Philippines (UP).

In his complaint, suspended lawyer Eligio Mallari accused Aquino and the officials of JBC of violating Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for supposedly allowing Sereno to sit in the judiciary despite her failure to comply with the JBC's requirements.

Aquino has yet to receive a copy of the complaint.

JBC executive director Annaliza Ty-Capacite, who is among the respondents, earlier said that Sereno was able to submit her SALN only for the years 2009 to 2011.

Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, the JBC chair at the time Sereno was appointed, and Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro lamented the JBC's decision to approve Sereno's application.

De Castro said that a grave injustice was done to all the applicants vying for judiciary posts as the JBC allowed Sereno's non-compliance to its rules while it threw out the application of several others who had failed to comply with the requirements it imposes. (Keith Calayag/SunStar Philippines)