Congress to appeal Supreme Court ruling on JBC slot

MANILA, Philippines - The leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives will appeal the decision of the Supreme Court giving Congress only one vote in the Judicial and Bar Council’s search for the next chief justice.

Sen. Francis Escudero said the SC decision will not gravely affect the decision-making function of the JBC on the pending review of the qualifications of the next chief magistrate.

“’Tig isang boto ang senador at congressman. (The senator and congressman will each have one vote). At least, it is clear in the decision that those decided by the JBC in the past are still considered valid,” Escudero said yesterday over radio dzBB.

According to Escudero, the framers of the Constitution overlooked the issue of bicameral Congress.

He said the Solicitor General will represent Congress before the SC in appealing the decision.

The High Tribunal voided the current composition of JBC, stressing Congress can only have one representative in the council searching for the next chief justice.

The SC ordered the JBC to reconstitute its composition so that only one congressional representative will sit in the JBC instead of the current two. Escudero and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. are the representatives of Congress in the JBC.

Seven justices granted the petition of former Solicitor General Frank Chavez questioning the legality of the JBC composition.

Earlier, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano strongly opposed the nomination of Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Rene Sarmiento for chief justice.

In his letter to the JBC, Cayetano said Sarmiento “allowed if not abetted” the perpetration of fraud in the 2007 and 2010 elections.

“We cannot afford to commit another mistake in the appointment of a CJ. We cannot appoint somebody like Commissioner Sarmiento whose competence, integrity, probity, and independence are not beyond suspicion,” he stressed. – With Edu Punay