All 15 SC bets qualified–JBC
MANILA, Philippines—All the 15 aspirants for the vacant post at the Supreme Court are qualified to be voted into the short list of nominees, according to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
Lawyer Jose Mejia, regular member of JBC representing the academe, said all the candidates complied with the requirements and met the qualifications to become a justice of the Supreme Court.
“We will vote on Nov. 7 for the short list of three names. President Aquino has until Nov. 22 to make the appointment so he will have enough time for that,” he said in a text message.
The appointee will fill the remaining vacancy in the 15-member tribunal which resulted from the elevation of Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno to chief justice last August.
The candidates have submitted their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth and waivers for the disclosure of their bank assets. They have also undergone neuropsychiatric testing. They were also screened by the JBC in public interviews on Oct. 23 and Oct. 25.
Nine of the aspirants are considered “insiders” in the judiciary. They are Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Associate Justices Ramon Bato Jr., Rosmari Carandang, Magdangal de Leon, Isaias Dicdican, Jose Reyes Jr. and Noel Tijam of the Court of Appeals; Sandiganbayan Justice Ma. Cristina Cornejo; and former Davao City Judge Adoracion Cruz-Avisado.
The other six are “outsiders,” namely, former University of Perpetual Help System law dean Jose-Santos Bisquera, government peace panel chair and former University of the Philippines law dean Marvic Leonen, former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, De La Salle University law dean Jose Manuel Diokno, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa and former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva.
Under the Constitution, a justice of the Supreme Court must be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years old, have at least 15 years’ experience as a judge of a lower court or engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines by the same years. He/she must also be “a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.”
The eight-member JBC, chaired by Sereno, is the panel tasked to make a short list of not more than three nominees to fill up a vacancy in the high court.
