Who are the candidates short-listed for SC associate justice?

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

Photo by Mark Z. Saludes

Marcos will pick his next SC associate justice appointee in place of retiring Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier

AT A GLANCE

• The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has shortlisted 11 candidates for the position of Supreme Court associate justice, in place of retiring Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier.
• Public interviews for the candidates were conducted on October 13 and 15, with the shortlist transmitted to Malacañang for presidential appointment.

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MANILA, Philippines – A total of 11 candidates have been short-listed by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) for the position of Supreme Court (SC) associate justice vice Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier, who will retire on November 16.

Here are the short-listed candidates in alphabetical order:

• Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Ramon M. Bato Jr.
• Solicitor General Darlene Marie B. Berberabe
• Commission on Audit Chairperson Gamaliel A. Cordoba
• CA Associate Justice Ramon A. Cruz
• CA Associate Justice Maria Elisa Sempio Diy
• CA Associate Justice Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez
• CA Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta
• Commission on Elections Commissioner Ernesto P. Maceda, Jr.
• CA Associate Justice Ronaldo Roberto B. Martin
• CA Associate Justice Walter S. Ong
• Court of Tax Appeals Associate Justice Maria Rowena M. San Pedro

Under the 1987 Constitution, the JBC is mandated to screen applicants for the judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman. After the screening, the JBC will conduct public interviews of the qualified candidates. A deliberation will follow, then the council will submit a short list to the president who will then make the appointment.

In this case, the JBC held the public interviews for the new candidates on October 13 and 15. It no longer interviewed bets who already went through the process since their interviews were still valid.

The judiciary is independent, but it is the president who is constitutionally mandated to make appointments to the courts. In this case, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will appoint his next justice to the High Court after Lazaro Javier reaches the mandatory age of 70 next month.

According to the SC, the short list has already been transmitted to Malacañang.

An SC justice must be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years old, and have been a judge or law practitioner in the Philippines for at least 15 years or more. This is found under Section 7(1), Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution.

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.

On Thursday, the JBC also published the short list of chief justice nominees. These are the five candidates seeking to succeed Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo:

• Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen
• Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa
• Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda
• Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao
• Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez

The chief justice and associate justice posts will be Marcos’ second and third appointee to the SC, which is currently dominated by appointees of former president Rodrigo Duterte. – Rappler.com