38 now vieing for Supreme Court post

Three junior justices of the Supreme Court have also been nominated for the position of the Chief Justice, according to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

Justices Jose Perez, Roberto Abad, and Ma. Lourdes Sereno were appointed to the Court in 2009 and 2010.

But unlike their five senior colleagues, who are considered automatically nominated under the JBC’s rules, the three would have to be screened and interviewed by the council.

At least 25 others, many of them legal luminaries and current and former government officials, have also been nominated, bringing the total nominees to 38.

Abad, who is set to retire in 2014, was nominated by lawyer Nilo Divina, dean of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law. At 68, Abad is the oldest member of the Supreme Court.

Abad was also recommended by former Sen. Rene Saguisag, who said the short tenure of Abad would serve as a cooling off period following the tensions created by the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Perez, former Court Administrator, was nominated by the Asia Pacific Bar Association. He is considered as the Supreme Court’s first “homegrown justice” and the “ultimate insider,” having spent all his professional life as lawyer in the Supreme Court.

Sereno, President Aquino’s first appointee to the court, was nominated by Felma Roel Singco, Reagan de Guzman and lawyer Fidel Thaddeus Borja.

The latest nominees as of Friday were Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento; Marvic Leonen, government chief negotiator with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front; University of the East College of Law dean Amado Valdez; Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Roan Libarios; former congressman Teddy Boy Locsin; former solicitor general Frank Chavez; and former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.

Sarmiento was nominated by Zenaida Avancena-Quezon, daughter of former President Manuel L. Quezon, and professors of the San Beda College of Law, led by its dean, Virgilio Jara.

“It’s a long shot, but I am very honored by the trust and confidence they have in me,” Sarmiento told the Inquirer.

Quezon and Jara cited Sarmiento’s being a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, his stint as a human rights lawyer, his involvement in the peace talks with communist insurgents and Muslim secessionists and his current work at the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“His long and faithful years in government service, private practice and academe will make him a servant Chief Justice,” Quezon said in her endorsement letter.

“We are certain that working for social justice and human rights will be the hallmark of his stay in the Supreme Court,” added Jara and the San Beda professors.

Growing list

Sarmiento, who is set to retire from the Comelec in April next year, was also nominated to two vacancies in the Supreme Court in 2010.

With the growing list of nominees, the National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL) said the next chief justice should not only be independent but also trustworthy.

“Young or senior, man or woman, insider or outsider, old hand or upstart, what really matters is whether the new Chief Justice will inspire the trust, confidence and respect of the Bar, the bench and most importantly the general public that has been cynical and frustrated with our justice system.,” NUPL secretary general Edre Olalia said in a statement.

Olalia said the next Chief Justice must also be propeople and the champion of human rights.