JBC sets interview for 5 SC aspirants

The five applicants to the post vacated by ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will be facing the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) for a public interview on Aug. 16, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio said the seven-member JBC, the body tasked to screen nominees to judicial posts, will come up with the official list of candidates for the next chief magistrate after the interview.

The final JBC deliberations on the search for the Chief Justice will be held on Aug. 31, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, a member of the JBC.

Unlike Carpio, Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Andres Reyes Jr. accepted their nomination as Sereno’s possible successor.

The four were among the eight justices who had granted Solicitor General Jose Calida’s quo warranto petition which led to Sereno’s removal.

Also seeking to be the next Chief Justice is Judge Virginia Tejano-Ang of Davao del Norte Regional Trial Court Branch 1.

President Duterte has 90 days to name Sereno’s successor. —MARLON RAMOS