SC orders JBC to comment on Jardeleza’s plea

Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Judicial and Bar Council – which is chaired by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. – to answer Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza’s bid to stop President Benigno Aquino III from filling up the vacancy left by Associate Justice Roberto Abad.

Sereno, the JBC and Ochoa were given 10 days to submit their comment without giving due course to Jardeleza’s petition.

High Court’s Information chief Theodore Te, in a text message, said the JBC, not Sereno will comment on the petition.

JBC is a constitutional body tasked with screening appointees to the judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Jardeleza also asked the high court to order the JBC to include him in the shortlist of candidates aspiring for the post vacated by Abad last May 22.

In his petition, Jardeleza said the JBC abused its discretion when it excluded him from a shortlist, which was submitted to Aquino last June.

Jardeleza said the accusations against him were made by Sereno without informing him of its basis, which is contrary to the rules of the JBC.

Under the JBC rules, Jardeleza said the JBC should inform the public about the nomination so that an oppositor may file a complaint or opposition. He added that if a complaint is filed, the same must be made in writing and under oath, and the candidate concerned should be given a copy in order to be able to file his comment.

However, Jardeleza said Sereno’s opposition is not in writing and he was not given the opportunity to defend himself.

“The filing of charges against petitioner and allowance of reasonable opportunity for him to answer said charges constitute the minimum requirements of due process. Petitioner was left with the monumental task of divining the accusations against him, an undertaking made even more difficult by the fact that the identities of his accusers were unknown. Given how little information he had. Petitioner could not have been able to mount a meaningful defense,” Jardeleza said in his petition.

Jardeleza was dropped by the JBC from the shortlist of nominees last June 30 despite getting four votes from the panel, which is the required number of votes for someone to qualify for the post.

Included in the shortlist were Court of Appeals Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas and Jose Reyes Jr., Commission on Audit (COA) Chair Gracia Pulido-Tan, who got five votes; and Regional Trial Court of Quezon City Judge Reynaldo Daway, who got four votes. Bruselas and Reyes got six votes each.

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