Justices of the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday said that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno should clarify if she appointed lawyer Theodore Te as her personal spokesman or as the spokesman of the court en banc.

Several magistrates said that Te’s position in the SC is unclear and they wanted to know the real score on his appointment to the High Tribunal.

An associate justice said that Sereno should reveal the true position of Te if he is to represent the whole SC or the chief justice alone.

“The PIO [Public Information Office] chief, who acts as spokesman of the Supreme Court, will be the face or the court. If he [Te] will speak for the decisions and resolutions of the court it should be with authority from the en banc and not from the chief justice alone,” a justice said.

But Te has already made a courtesy call on Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio in December to seek his permission to be the new PIO chief, replacing Acting PIO Chief Gleoresty Guerra.

“When I made a courtesy call [on] ATC [Antonio T. Carpio] he told me, ‘welcome to the court.’ Wala naman kaming problema ni Justice Carpio,” Te told The Times.

He added that he would “tentatively” assume office this month after the proper documentations are finished.

However, Te’s appointment could face rough sailing after Carpio discovered flaws in the draft document prepared by Sereno.

He said that the document was erroneous because there was no such position as SC spokesman.

Carpio also found that Te, currently a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law, will be transferred to the SC. He said that there should first be an agreement between UP and the SC before he is assigned to the High Tribunal.

An SC justice said that Carpio wanted to elevate the matter to the court en banc for proper disposition, and Sereno should explain before the magistrates on the next en banc on January 15.

“Papalusutan na naman niya kami. Gusto ni Sereno malaman kung makakalusot siya gaya ng ginawa niya sa revival ng RCAO [Regional Court Administration Office] pero binara naman siya ng en banc,” an SC justice told The Times.