Carpio backs out from nomination for chief justice

Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Monday declined an invitation for an interview regarding his nomination for the chief justice position, saying he is not interested. “I wish to reiterate that I am not interested to be nominated to the said position at this time," he said in a one-page letter to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the eight-man body that screens nominees for vacant judicial posts. The letter was addressed to lawyer Ma. Luisa Villarama, the JBC clerk of court and ex-officio secretary of the panel. The JBC has set Carpio’s interview on April 19. Chief Justice Reynato Puno will retire on May 17.

Carpio has earlier signified his intention to be nominated for the chief justice post provided that the appointment would be made by the next president pursuant to Section 15, Article 7 of the Constitution. This provision prohibits the incumbent president from making any “midnight appointments" two months before the May 10, 2010 elections until the end of his or her term on June 30. Applied this year, the appointment ban started last March 10, although the Supreme Court, in a controversial decision last month, has allowed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to pick Puno’s replacement. Carpio was joined in this position by fellow nominee Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales. Other candidates for the post were Associate Justices Renato Corona, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Arturo Brion and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval. The JBC has scheduled Brion, Carpio, Corona, and Carpio-Morales for interview on April 19, from 9 am to 5 pm. The next day, De Castro and Sandoval will be interviewed from 2 pm to 5 pm. - KBK, GMANews.TV