CA justices lead JBC ‘short list’ for SC

Court of Appeals (CA) justices dominated the short list submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) late yesterday afternoon to fill up the vacancy created by the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Santiago Kapunan last Aug. 12.

CA Presiding Justice Cancio Garcia, CA Justice Delilah Vidallon-Magtolis and Court Administrator Presbitero Velasco tied for the top slot with seven votes each, while Senior Justice Ruben Reyes obtained five votes from the JBC.

Lawyer Adolf Azcuna, once the chief legal counsel of former President Corazon Aquino, was also included in the JBC short list, but came up only with six votes.

"I certainly wish (Azcuna) was in the (JBC) list," President Arroyo said during an Aug. 28 luncheon with Palace reporters, in response to questions about Malacañang’s efforts to persuade the independent JBC to modify its short list to include Azcuna.

Mrs. Arroyo has until Nov. 12 to appoint a new magistrate, since the law mandates that a vacancy in the judiciary should be filled within 90 days.

The JBC nominates three to five individuals for each vacancy.

Asked why Azcuna’s name slid from the top of the SC short list, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said "it is the vote of the JBC that counts." He also said the JBC has the final say on which candidate will be recommended to the President for appointment to the SC.

Azcuna was supposed to have filled one of the slots vacated by Justice Jose Melo and Sabino de Leon, who stepped down from the High Bench on May 28 and June 9, respectively.

However, these slots were given to two JBC topnotchers — former CA Justices Romeo Callejo and Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Azcuna was supposedly the strongest contender on the first JBC list, but his nomination was vehemently opposed by former Senate president Jovito Salonga and former justice minister Sedfrey Ordoñez.

Salonga and Ordoñez, both officials of Bantay Katarungan (Sentinel of Justice), an anti-graft watchdog group monitoring corruption in the judiciary, said Azcuna "lawyered" for Benjamin "Kokoy" Romualdez, brother of former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo yesterday swore in her new appointees, led by Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo, Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Benjamin Defensor and other newly promoted officers of the AFP at Malacañang.

In her informal luncheon press conference at the Palace yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo said Justice Undersecretary Manuel Antonio Teehankee will head the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) until a new replacement takes over the Department of Justice (DOJ) post.

Offhand, the President said she would want former OGCC head Amado Valdes "to switch" posts with Teehankee "because (Teehankee) is still needed in the DOJ. I will probably name Valdes."

"I would want (Teehankee) to really be OGCC (head) full time. For the sake of the work in DOJ, I’m keeping him in both," the Chief Executive said.

The President cited Teehankee’s credentials — he was a bar topnotcher and later a corporate lawyer who practiced on Wall Street in New York. "(Teehankee) is really very outstanding, so I need him in OGCC, but there are also things that he needs to do in DOJ."