Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has politely turned down yet another nomination to the Supreme Court as he wants to focus on his important work at the Department of Justice is needed.
This is Guevarra’s second time to turn down a nomination made by Retired Associate Justice Raoul Victorino.
On Sunday, Guevarra expressed his gratefulness to Victorino for the nomination to fill up the Associate Justice position. Ultimately, the Justice Secretary decided to decline again 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.
With the passage of Republic Act No. 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Law, Guevarra has an additional task of being a member of the Anti-Terrorism Council. The Anti-Terrorism Council allows the executive branch to arrest people they deem as “terrorists” without judicial warrant and to detain them without charge for up to 24 days.
