The final batch of applicants vying for the Supreme Court (SC) position that will be vacated by Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier on Thursday weighed in on increasing the qualifications required for national elective positions in government.
For the second batch, Commission on Audit (COA) chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba, Government Corporate Counsel Solomon Hermosura, lawyer German Lichauco II, and Commission on Elections Commissioner Ernesto Maceda faced the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
Lichauco said that amending the Constitution was "long overdue."
"By putting up the bar, we will be able to weed out the possible candidates who are not qualified for such position. By raising the bar, upgrading the qualification, then we are now being given a greater position to choose wisely," he said.
"Fortunately, unfortunately… our electoral system is based on popularity and because of that, certain individuals who may not even be qualified for certain positions are elected simply because the masses see, the masses know of them, and the masses think that what they see is actually the person they are voting," he said.
Lichauco said that with more qualifications, the public has a better opportunity to choose wisely.
Under the 1987 Constitution, individuals seeking to be president, vice president, senator, and congressman must be a natural-born citizen and must be literate while each position has a varying requirement on age and residency in the country.
Cordoba also said he was in favor of increasing the qualifications.
"Because the complexity of governance is quite different right now. We're governing around 120 million people and the needs and the wants and the desires are different from maybe 10, 5, 20 years ago," he said.
"So the demands on the candidates, on the executive elected officials are quite high (so) I agree with that," he added.
However, Cordoba stressed that the qualifications cannot be amended simply through judicial legislation.
"It has to go through a constitutional charter change," he said.
Meanwhile, Maceda and Hermosura believe that there is no need to raise the qualifications.
"I am more comfortable with lesser qualification than with more," Maceda said.
"That's more democratic. It allows more participation and it does not impose limitations," he added.
According to Maceda, the right of people to vote and the right to run for public office should be given equal weight.
"The popular position nowadays are to require educational, to demand educational requirements. Unless it is shown that that's a guarantee of better service, then I don't see how that should supplant the existing order," he said.
Hermosura, meanwhile, said he was not in favor of too many qualifications, saying that in the private sector, the focus is on past performance and not on qualifications.
He also expressed hope that raising qualifications for national elective positions will not restrict access to public service.
He said that sometimes, meeting the qualifications requires a certain degree of financial stability.
The JBC panel was composed of Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida, Batangas Representative Gerville Luistro, former Supreme Court associate justice Jose Catral Mendoza, Court of Tax Appeals Associate Justice Erlinda Piñera Uy, lawyer Nesauro Hernandez Firme, and lawyer Jose Mejia.
Lazaro-Javier is set to restire on November 16, 2026. — VDV, GMA News