MANILA – Supreme Court (SC) chief justice Lucas Bersamin said he left the judiciary with “no regrets” after reaching his mandatory retirement age on Friday.
Bersamin added he has “mixed emotions” as he leaves the High Court for almost a decade as Associate Justice and Chief Justice, and after spending over 30 years in the judiciary.
“I have always endeavored to be true to my oath of office and have always discharged my duties and responsibilities in the best lights that God has endowed me with,” Bersamin said.
“Do I now have a better way of putting it except to say that I have faithfully served the people conscientiously, discharged my office and dutifully fulfilled their trust,” he added.
“I experienced a deep sense of personal satisfaction, no regrets but this address brings to me mixed emotions. Half of me is happy, the other half is sad, sad because I am leaving this place and bidding farewell to this community that has been my home for over a decade,” Bersamin said.
Bersamin also expressed his gratitude to his colleagues and court employees.
“Continue doing your assigned tasks and work but please be constant in your loyalty to the judiciary as our institution and be steadfast in your fealty to the letter and spirit of the Constitution and to the rule of law,” he said.
Bersamin of Abra served as the chief justice for 11 months after being appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to take the post of former Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo De Castro.
Bersamin entered the judiciary on Nov. 1986 as a Quezon City trial court judge. He was then promoted in March 2003 to the Court of Appeals before being chosen by former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as a SC justice in April 2009./PN
