MANILA, Philippines — While he missed five chances to become chief justice, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio will get the full retirement benefit of a chief justice when he retires next week. Retired chief justice Artemio Panganiban said that the Supreme Court (SC) en banc has passed a “unanimous resolution” that will grant Carpio the retirement privileges of a chief justice even if he did not get the highest position in the high court. Moreover, Justice Carpio acted as chief justice intermittently for a period of more than eight months and counting,” Panganiban said. Carpio urged the incoming SC justices to always observe judicial independence. With Carpio’s looming retirement next week, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has shortlisted nine justices of the Court of Appeals (CA) as his replacement.

Source: Philippine Star October 19, 2019 17:37 UTC