MANILA, Philippines -- The Judicial and Bar Council is scheduled to meet on Monday to choose the nominees who could replace the recently retired Senior Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing and soon to retire Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario in the 15-member Supreme Court.

Lawyer Jose Midas Marquez, Supreme Court deputy court administrator and spokesperson, said the JBC would come up with a list of at least six names to be submitted to Malacañang for President Macapagal-Arroyo’s consideration.”

“(We) can expect at least six names. There might be a tie, so there can be more,” Marquez told the Inquirer in a text message.

Quisumbing retired on Nov. 6. Nazario is scheduled to retire on Dec. 5.

There are 17 applicants that the JBC interviewed for the vacancies.

Some of the most notable include Acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, former Justice Undersecretary Manuel A.J. Teehankee, Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin, Jr., and Sandiganbayan Justice Alexander Gesmundo.

Devanadera and Gesmundo topped the Supreme Court justices’ choices to replace Quisumbing and Nazario in voting that took place last week during an en banc session.

It has been common practice in the JBC to give due consideration to the recommendation of the Supreme Court in deliberating on its choices that would be submitted to Malacañang.

Locsin, on the other hand, was nominated by recently retired Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna. Locsin and Azcuna both served in the Cabinet of the late former President Corazon Aquino during the early days of her administration.

Teehankee is the son of former Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee and is currently the Philippine representative to the World Trade Organization.

“Ambassador Teehankee is very qualified to become a justice of the Supreme Court,” Dean Anthony La Vina of the Ateneo De Manila University School of Government.

La Vina said Teehankee shared with his father the distinction of topping the bar examinations and of leading a government career without being linked to corruption.

Teehankee is also the chair of the Doha Round Committee on Trade and Environment that is drafting new trade rules that could mitigate the effects of climate change.

“(Teehankee) is exceptionally intelligent, experienced in Philippine and international law, and someone who has a good and wise heart," La Vina said.