Barely warming his seat as the new head of the Department of Justice, Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Sabater Caguioa is now being eyed as one of the candidates who will replace retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Martin Villarama.
In a document obtained by INQUIRER.net from the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), Caguioa was named one of the 16 candidates who were nominated by the JBC to replace Villarama.
Aside from Caguioa, the following were included in the initial list of candidates prepared by the JBC:
1. Lawyer Joe-Santos Bisquera
2. Court of Appeals Associate Justice Apolinario Brisuelas Jr.
3. Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang
4. Court of Appeals Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang
5. Court of Appeals Associate Justice Mariflor Castillo
6. Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Maria Cristina Cornejo
7. Court of Appeals Associate Justice Stephen Cruz
8. Cibac party-list Rep. Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales
9. Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Reynaldo Daway
10. Solicitor General Florin Hilbay
11. Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera
12. Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III
13. Former Commission on Audit Chair Maria Grace Pulido Tan
14. Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Alex Quiroz
15. Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr.
Caguioa was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III as ad interim secretary of the Department of Justice last Oct. 12, replacing Leila de Lima who resigned to pursue a senatorial bid.
He is a classmate of Aquino in Ateneo from grade school to college.
Caguioa topped the 1986 bar examination and graduated with honors from Ateneo de Manila Law School.
Before being appointed as justice secretary, Caguioa was the chief presidential legal counsel.
Villarama, who was appointed to his post in 2009, asked for optional retirement effective Jan. 16, 2016, because of his deteriorating health condition.
The retiring Supreme Court associate justice will turn 70—the mandatory retirement age for members of the judiciary—on April 14, 2016.