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Two Regional Trial Court (RTC) judges whose previous nominations to the Sandiganbayan have been ignored by the past administration are again included on the shortlist of nominees vying for the Associate Justice position vacated by Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Teresita V. Diaz-Baldos.
Muntinlupa RTC Branch 207 Judge Philip Aguinaldo and Makati RTC Judge Benjamin Pozon are two of the four names submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to Malacañang.
Aguinaldo and Pozon were mentioned by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in their petition before the high court as among the nominees ignored by Malacañang to occupy the 16 Sandiganbayan Associate Justice posts.
Instead of choosing from the nominees specifically for the 16th Sandiganbayan Associate Justice, then President Beningo Aquino III appointed two justices from the nominees for the 21st Sandiganbayan Associate Justice. Appointed are Cebu RTC Branch 9 Judge Ma. Geraldine Faith Econg and Michael Frederick Musngi, former Undersecretary of the Office of Special Concerns at the Office of the President. The lawyers group wants the high court to nullify the appointment of the two. It is still pending before the Supreme Court.
READ: IBP wants SC to void Aquino’s choice of 2 Sandigan associate justices
Aguinaldo was the one who issued a writ of preliminary injunction against the Ayala Alabang color-coding scheme while Pozon was the one who convicted Lance Corporal Daniel Smith for raping a Filipina.
Others on the shortlist are Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 141 Judge Mary Ann Corpus-Manalac and Quezon City RTC Branch 97 Judge Bernelito Fernandez.
Corpus-Mañalac was a former investigator on the multi-billion Centennial Expo Scam and a 2013 Judicial Excellence Awardee while Fernandez is the son of a former Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Bernardo Fernandez who acquitted late Gen. Fabian Ver of murder charges in the assassination of President Aquino’s father, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
The names have been submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte. Section 9 under Article VIII of the Constitution provides that the President has 90 days to fill up the position from the time the JBC submits a shortlist of candidates. This will be Duterte’s first appointee to the judiciary. RAM/rga