Personal questions for Chief Justice candidates allowed, says JBC member

MANILA, Philippines—Things could get personal for the candidates aspiring to become the next Supreme Court Chief Justice.

Candidates can be asked on personal issues “as long as the questions are relevant and pertain to the qualifications of the candidate,” Lawyer Jose Mejia, representative of the academe to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), said Thursday in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990 AM.

The JBC is set to conduct a public interview of the candidates beginning July 24 in order to help them come up with a short list of candidates that will be submitted to President Benigno Aquino III so he can decide who will be the next Chief Justice.

“They can expect that [personal] questions will be asked,” Mejia said. “If it pertains to their competence and integrity, why not?” he added.

The JBC might be able to interview around six to eight candidates per day on average. Since there were 24 candidates, it could just take them three days if eight would be interviewed per day, Mejia said.

He added that the candidates will be interviewed alphabetically.

For the full interview, listen to the audio clip from Radyo Inquirer.