President Duterte will choose his 11th appointee to the Supreme Court among five appeals court justices and the Supreme Court administrator.
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), which vets all court appointees, submitted to Malacañang on Friday a shortlist of six names to replace Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, who will retire on July 29.
The final candidates picked by the JBC were Court of Appeals Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas Jr., Japar Dimaampao, Ramon Garcia, Jhosep Lopez and Rodil Zalameda; and Court Administrator Midas Marquez.
Duterte has so far appointed two chief justices: Teresita Leonardo De Castro and incumbent Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, who is set to retire on Oct. 18.
Aside from Bersamin and Del Castillo, two other magistrates will retire this year: Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza on Sept. 26 and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Oct. 26.