Appellate court justices, SolGen among candidates for next SC justice

HIGHEST COURT. File photo of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

Photo by Mark Z. Saludes

This year, Marcos will pick his second Supreme Court justice appointee to replace retiring Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier

AT A GLANCE

• The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has released a list of 19 candidates for the Supreme Court associate justice position, which will be vacated by retiring Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier on November 16.
• New applicants include various legal professionals, while previous candidates from 2025 will not participate in the upcoming public interviews scheduled for October 13 and 15.
• The selection process will lead to a shortlist of at least three applicants for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to choose from, marking his second appointment to the Supreme Court.

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MANILA, Philippines – Familiar names, including incumbent justices of the Court of Appeals (CA), are among the candidates for the next Supreme Court (SC) associate justice, based on the list made public by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Friday, October 9.

In total, there are 19 bets for the position that will be vacated by Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier who will retire on November 16.

The new applicants are:

• Aldwin Flora Alegre (Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration)
• Jason Rueda Barlis (Chairperson, Legal Education Board)
• Geraldine Faith Abracia Econg (Presiding Justice, Sandiganbayan)
• Lily Villareal Biton (Associate Justice, Court of Appeals)
• Gamaliel Asis Cordoba (Chairperson, Commission on Audit)
• Solomon Mateo Hermosura (Government Corporate Counsel)
• German Quintos Lichauco II (Senior partner, Siguion Reyna, Montecillo, and Ongsiako law office)
• Ernesto Perez Maceda Jr. (Commissioner, Commission on Elections)

These applicants will face the JBC in public interviews scheduled on October 13 and 15. This is part of the council’s selection process.

Meanwhile, the JBC also released the names of the other candidates this year, who had applied in 2025. They will not take part in the October 13 and 15 schedule because their past interviews are still valid:

• Nina Antonio Valenzuela (Associate Justice, CA)
• Fernanda Lampas Peralta (Presiding Justice, CA)
• Ramon Mariño Bato Jr. (Associate Justice, CA)
• Ronaldo Roberto Baquizal Martin (Associate Justice, CA)
• Darlene Marie Basco Berberabe (Solicitor General)
• Karl Belandres Miranda (Associate Justice, Sandiganbayan)
• Ramon Alcala Cruz (Associate Justice, CA)
• Walter Santos Ong (Associate Justice, CA)
• Maria Elisa Sempio Diy (Associate Justice, CA)
• Myra Virtucio Garcia Fernandez (Associate Justice, CA)
• Maria Rowena Modesto San Pedro (Associate Justice, Court of Tax Appeals)

Section 7(1), Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution sets the requirement for an SC justice: “No person shall be appointed Member of the Supreme Court or any lower collegiate court unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. A Member of the Supreme Court must be at least forty years of age, and must have been for fifteen years or more a judge of a lower court or engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines.”

On top of this, a JBC 2020 rule states that an SC justice must serve a minimum of 2.5 years. This means that the eldest age of a candidate should be 67.5 years old, since the mandatory retirement age for justices is 70 years old.

The retirement of Lazaro Javier, an appointee of former president Rodrigo Duterte, will pave the way for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s second appointment to the SC after Associate Justice Raul Villanueva in 2025.

From the nominees, the JBC will make a short list of at least three applicants that will be transmitted to Malacañang. Marcos, as the appointing authority, will make the final choice based on the JBC list.

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo is also set to retire on November 6. The JBC will hold the same selection process to screen the candidates for the next chief magistrate. – Rappler.com