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Leonen says no to chief justice post, defers to senior colleagues

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<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lJ4OusvXWjU?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>MANILA - Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said Thursday he does not want to become chief justice and instead urged his senior colleagues to accept their possible nomination to the post.</p><p>Leonen, the youngest member of the SC at 55, said he does not have the &quot;capacity or attitude&quot; required to replace ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.</p><p>&quot;You have to be able to find a middle ground, you have to have the gravitas to be able to bring the people to listen to each other and then later on come up with a decision,&quot; he told ANC&#x27;s Headstart.</p><p>&quot;Right now, I am more concerned about convincing people about the standpoint that I am presenting,&quot; he said.</p><p>The Supreme Court in May ousted Sereno for her failure to fully disclose her income when she applied for the top post in 2012.</p><p>After the high tribunal affirmed her ousted last month, the Judicial and Bar Council started the nomination and vetting process for Sereno&#x27;s replacement.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/19/18/supreme-court-rules-cj-sereno-ouster-final">Supreme Court rules CJ Sereno ouster final</a></li>	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/25/18/search-for-next-supreme-court-chief-starts">Search for next Supreme Court chief starts</a></li></ul><p>All senior associate justices of the Supreme Court should accept nomination to be the next chief justice, despite their position on the quo warranto petition that resulted in Sereno&#x27;s removal, said Leonen.</p><p>&quot;For or against the quo warranto, my point of view as a person and me telling them is all of you should all accept and let the President have a wide field to choose from,&quot; he said.</p><p>Associate Justice Teresita De Castro is a &quot;work horse and has a lot of good ideas,&quot; Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta was &quot;one of the leading lights for continuous trials and gets people to work,&quot; and Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin can also get well with the colleagues and has the experience of growing from the lower courts, he said.</p><p>Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who earlier said he would turn down such nomination, has been in the Supreme Court for more than a decade, Leonen said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/20/18/carpio-to-decline-chief-justice-nomination">Carpio to decline chief justice nomination</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VpkSENREJww?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>&quot;Seniority is a marker of experience. It is also a marker of a person who knows his or her colleagues. As you stay in the court longer, you become more familiar with the people that you work with, including the staff, chiefs of offices, security, the judges of the lower courts, the appellate courts,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;The mark of a good chief justice, from my point of view, is the number of times he or she gets a unanimous opinion, especially in controversial cases because this would mean he or she could have worked the many opinions that are on the table and found a middle ground,&quot; he added.</p>

<p>Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said Thursday he does not want to become chief justice and instead urged his senior colleagues to accept their possible nomination to the post.</p>

Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said Thursday he does not want to become chief justice and instead urged his senior colleagues to accept their possible nomination to the post.