PJA director admits: Not all judges in the region were informed

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent .

THE director of Philippine Judges Association (PJA) in northern Mindanao yesterday admitted that he did not inform all the judges in the region about a March 7 meeting in Manila on the organization’s call for the resignation of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

PJA regional director and concurrent Regional Trial Court  Executive Judge Dennis Alcantar said this after Judge Marites Filomena Rana-Bernales of the 39th branch of the RTC spoke on behalf of a group of judges to disavow the stand taken by the PJA and to assert the independence of the judiciary.

Bernales, who is also the RTC’s 1st vice executive judge here, said many judges like her were not consulted by the PJA leadership before it went public with its official position. She said it was not the stand of many judges.

The PJA, along with other judiciary-based organizations, took turns in urging Sereno to resign on Monday.

Alcantar, said not all judges in the region were informed by him about the March 7 meeting.

But Alcantar said he was able to inform Judge Evelyn Nery of the 19th branch of the RTC here.

Nery is deputy auditor of the Philippine Women Judges Association. The PJA website lists Nery as the association’s vice president for legal affairs but the judge said her term of office has already ended.

The PJA website also lists Alcantar, presiding judge of the 19th branch of the RTC here, as one of its nine presidential advisers.

Another judge here, Arthur Abundiente of RTC Branch 25, is also listed on the website as PJA deputy vice president for special projects.

It was unclear if the three Cagayan de Oro judges had anything to do with the PJA’s official statement although Alcantar joined those who appealed to Sereno to step down on Monday. By Tuesday, Alcantar said they would no longer force the issue after Sereno stated that she would not quit.

Alcantar told the Gold Star Daily yesterday that he did not sign the manifesto that sought Sereno’s resignation, and only the presidents of at least five organizations, including PJA’s, signed it.

Alcantar said the manifesto was read and then signed during the PJA’s March 7 meeting in Manila. The group went public with it five days later.

Nery confirmed that Alcantar informed her about the March 7 meeting but she skipped it because she had to attend the meeting of a technical working group of the Supreme Court’s committee on family concerns.

Nery declined to comment on the controversial manifesto and the crisis now gripping the SC as a result of the likely impeachment of the Chief Justice.

But Nery called on other judges to keep their social media posts about the moves to remove the Chief Justice in check. (with reports from herbie gomez)