Comelec commissioner withdraws application for SC seat
Commission on Elections Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr. has withdrawn his application for a seat in the Supreme Court (SC) which became vacant following the early retirement of associate justice Edgardo delos Santos.
“I was told that he withdrew his application,” SC Public Information Office chief Brian Keith Hosaka said when asked why Kho wasn’t interviewed by the Judicial and Bar Council last Wednesday.
“I don’t know the reason for his withdrawal,” Hosaka continued.
Kho, a fraternity brother of President Duterte, was an undersecretary of the Department of Justice when Vitaliano Aguirre II was the justice secretary.
The SC approved the early retirement request of delos Santos, the 186th associate justice. He retired last June 30, 2021.
He was the third SC justice to avail of early retirement.
On November last year, the high court accepted the early retirement request of associate justice Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla. She was supposed to retire on 2028.
On the other hand, chief justice Diosdado Peralta has also opted for early retirement last March 27, 2021.
In a one-page letter to his staff dated March 19, 2021, delos Santos expressed regret that he will be retiring early.
“I also write to you today to properly express my deep sadness for cutting short our association. In the brief time that we have together, I have found comfort in coming to our office with the knowledge that I am among trusted people. I saw and felt your enthusiasm in your work which in turn encouraged me to do my best as your boss and mentor,” he said.
“I spent sleepless nights trying to think better – no, make that – the best way to announce my decision to you, my staff, in light of trying times we are currently experiencing. I succumbed to the frailty of human emotions, that as I mustered to overcome my sadness during my announcement this afternoon,” delos Santos continued.
