WITH only 90 days before Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo finally retires, the Judicial Bar Council (JBC) has formally opened applications for aspirants seeking to take his seat.
Over the weekend, the JBC issued an announcement culminating the start of the search for the next chief magistrate.
According to the JBC, aspirants may start submitting pertinent documents embarking on their “professional histories.” The deadline for submission of the application or nomination will be at 4:30 p.m. on October 13.
Gesmundo, who was first appointed as Associate Justice in 2017 and tapped as Chief Justice in 2021 by former President Rodrigo Duterte, is set to turn 70 on November 6 — marking his compulsory retirement age for the judiciary.
Applicants or those who will submit nominations must visit the JBC website at www.jbc.judiciary.gov.ph for the complete details and guidelines.
Interestingly, the five most senior SC associate justices are automatically nominated to the post of Chief Justice. But they have the option to decline the nomination.
The five senior magistrates (in the order of seniority) are Marvic Leonen, Benjamin Caguioa, Ramon Paul Hernando, Amy Lazaro-Javier, and Henri Jean Paul Inting.
Associate Justice Lazaro-Javier is also retiring on Nov. 16, which marks her 70th birthday. With her retirement, Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda may be considered as the fifth senior associate justice automatically nominated to the Chief Justice post, the Manila Bulletin reported.
Under Section 7, Article VII of the Constitution, a member of the SC – including the Chief Justice – must be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years of age, and has served as a lower court judge or practiced law in the Philippines for 15 years or more. He or she must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.
The Supreme Court Chief Justice receives a basic monthly salary between P356,237 and P408,055, but their total annual take-home pay typically ranges from P16 million to over P19 million.
The JBC — the constitutional body that accepts, screens, and nominates appointments to the judiciary, the Office of the Ombudsman and its deputies, and members of the Legal Education Board – is mandated to submit at least three nominees to President Marcos for appointment.
The retiring Gesmundo obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1984 and passed the bar the following year.
He joined the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and was awarded Most Outstanding Solicitor in 1998. As OSG solicitor, he was also appointed commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government and served the agency until February 15, 2001.
As assistant solicitor general, Gesmundo was appointed associate justice of the Sandiganbayan on October 15, 2005. From the anti-graft court, he was promoted SC associate justice.
In 2022 as Chief Justice, Gesmundo launched the five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI) to review and assess the organizational structure and operations of the various offices of the judiciary, and to develop and establish an information and communications technology infrastructure for the Philippine judiciary.
The SPJI was conceived to deliver responsive and real-time justice. It is a plan anchored on four guiding principles — timely and fair justice, transparent and accountable justice, equal and inclusive Justice, and technologically adaptive management.
Since its launch four years ago, the SPJI has started to reap its three outcomes – efficiency, innovation, and access.
Chief Justice Gesmundo has been conferred degree of Doctor of Laws by three universities — Centro Escolar University School of Law and Jurisprudence on July 8, 2021, the Manuel L. Quezon University on March 26, 2022, the Philippine Christian University on August 31, 2022, and the Lyceum of the Philippines University on October 12, 2023.
On Dec. 1, 2021, he was conferred the honorary rank of Knight Grand Cross of Rizal and on Sept.11, 2023, he was presented with the 2023 Chief Justice Richard W. Holmes Award of Merit by the American Judges Association, the first non-American recipient of such award.
Before his government stint, Gesmundo worked as research analyst with Business Day Corporation where his articles were published by the business newspaper Business Day.
He also worked as a market research officer of the Office of the Australian Trade Commissioner and as marketing officer until 1985.
The son of a farmer, Juan A. Gesmundo, and public school teacher Zenaida G. Gahon, Chief Justice Gesmundo is married to Lynn Magpantay-Gesmundo with whom he has a son, Alastair, and twin daughters, Ashley Nicole and Allison Arden.