MANILA -- Retired Chief Justice and Consultative Committee chair Reynato Puno expressed support for Court Administrator Midas Marquez, who is vying for a seat in the Supreme Court (SC).
In a letter addressed to President Rodrigo R. Duterte dated July 30, 2018 and received July 31, 2018, Puno said he believed that Marquez, whom he has known for years, “is qualified to the highest degree for a seat in the Supreme Court.”
Marquez has been with the High Court for more than 25 years.
“He never left the Court since then, even after he passed the Bar and became a lawyer in 1994,” Puno said.
Marquez was shortlisted by JBC for the SC post to be vacated by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. upon his retirement on August 8.
Puno said prior to joining his office in 2003 as one of his senior lawyers, Marquez worked as clerk under several Supreme Court Justices, including Abraham F. Sarmiento, Ameurfina Melencio Herrera and Josue Bellosillo.
“In my assumption as Chief Justice in 2006, I appointed him as my Chief of Staff and Spokesperson of the Court. In 2010, in recognition of his exceptional service to the Court, he was unanimously appointed by the Court en banc as Court Administrator, the youngest the Court ever had,” Puno said.
“All these years, I have known Midas to be with a strong moral fiber. His integrity is beyond reproach. His intellectual ability is superior. His loyalty is unwavering,” Puno said.
The wife of the late chief justice Renato Corona, Ma. Cristina Corona, also sent a letter to President Duterte recommending Marquez.
She said Marquez has proven his competence in managing the requirements of the high court’s en banc, the judges, lawyers, litigants, court employees as well as the media covering the Judiciary.
Marquez finished both his degree in Economics and juris doctor degree at the Ateneo de Manila University. From being a legal clerk for several justices, he was eventually appointed court administrator in 2010.
He was SC spokesperson in 2007 during Puno's term until the impeachment of Corona in 2012. (PNA)
