Enrile: Subject Chief Justice nominees to new bar test

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile

Will aspirants for the vacant position of Chief Justice be up for another bar examination?

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Thursday broached the idea if only to allow the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to determine who among the nominees is the “most intelligent.”

The 88-year-old Enrile, himself a lawyer, downplayed the benefits of live media coverage of the JBC deliberations, saying it would only show the public who among the nominees speak “good English.”

“(The nominee) may speak well, speak good English, but the mind is a hollow block,” he said in Filipino in a radio interview.

“If they want to know who really is the most intelligent, then give them a bar examination again.”

The JBC—composed of representatives from the judiciary, legislative branches, and the academe—is tasked to draw up a list of nominees to be submitted for the approval of President Benigno Aquino.

The JBC has received at least 50 nominations as of Wednesday. The list includes names of Supreme Court Associate Justices, and those from the academe and private practice.

Enrile said candidates should be scrutinized on their legal background.

“What cases did they handle? They could be famous but they handled only corporation law, collection cases,” he said. Christian V. Esguerra