The Judicial and Bar Council rules says nominees must be under 67 years and 6 months old to serve for a maximum of 2.5 years before they retire at 70 years old. When the next Supreme Court vacancy comes up on January 2022, Guevarra would be 67 and 8 months old.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has declined yet another nomination to the Supreme Court, saying his work at the Department of Justice is needed now more than ever.
It is the second time for him to turn down a nomination made by Retired Associate Justice Raoul Victorino.
In a letter released to the media on Sunday, Guevarra thanked Victorino for the nomination to fill up the Associate Justice position. But he decided to decline what may be his last time to be nominated.
“This opportunity has come at a time when my services as Secretary of the Department of Justice are most needed. The government is facing a huge and unprecedented crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is especially during these troubled times that law and order must be preserved and maintained,” he wrote in the letter dated July 4.
Among Guevarra’s new tasks is his membership in the Anti-Terrorism Council under the newly-enacted Republic Act No. 11479. The Anti-Terrorism Council is controversial as critics say it expands the powers of the executive branch, allowing authorities to arrest people designated as “terrorists” without judicial warrant and to detain them without charge for up to 24 days.
