JBC votes on CJ shortlist today

MANILA, Philippines - The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) convenes today to come up with a shortlist of nominees for the next chief justice.

Eight members of the council will have a closed-door meeting to vote for at least three of the 20 final candidates.

The next chief magistrate, who will be appointed by President Aquino before Aug. 29, will replace Renato Corona, who was removed from office by the Senate sitting as an impeachment court after he was found guilty of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for failure to declare $2.4 million and P80 million in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Topping the list of candidates are acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio and Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo–de Castro, Arturo Brion, Roberto Abad and Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

Other aspirants are Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, Presidential Commission on Good Governance

Chairman Andres Bautista, Commission on Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, and Securities and Exchange Commission chairperson Teresita Herbosa.

Members of the academe in the list include De La Salle University law founding dean Jose Manuel Diokno, University of the East law dean Amado Valdez, former University of the Philippines law dean Raul Pangalangan, and former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva.

Former executive secretary Ronaldo Zamora, retired Judge Manuel Siayngco Jr. and lawyers Soledad Cagampang–De Castro, Katrina Legarda, and Rafael Morales complete the list of nominees.

The STAR earlier reported that the JBC has found out that none of the 20 candidates have hidden wealth by checking on the SALN and bank waivers they had submitted as a new requirement by the council.

Lawyer Jose Mejia, JBC member from the academe, said they would first decide whether to disqualify De Lima for the top judicial post considering two pending disbarment cases against her.

Sen. Francis Escudero, one of the two representatives of Congress in the JBC, earlier had hinted that De Lima may not be included in the shortlist because the rules clearly provide for disqualification of candidates with pending criminal or administrative cases.

“We won’t even put it to a vote. The rule will simply be applied unless by some stroke of luck or miracle, the cases will be dismissed by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines,” he said.

De Lima, however, made a last-minute appeal to the JBC last Friday and insisted that the consolidated complaints filed against her could not be considered grounds for her disqualification because they are not regular administrative cases as specified under JBC rules.

She said it was unfair for the IBP to expeditiously dispose the disbarment complaint filed by disbarred Mayor Magdaleno Peña of Pulupandan town in Negros Occidental against Carpio and Sereno, who are also vying for the chief justice post.

Escudero’s counterpart in the House, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., said he expects the JBC to resolve De Lima’s appeal.

“I expect a voting on her (De Lima) letter asking the JBC to reconsider its position on her disqualification before a voting on the shortlist,” Tupas said.

The IBP is also set to meet today to tackle the disbarment complaint against De Lima, according to its national president Roan Libarios.

President Aquino has admitted that a Malacañang legal team was helping De Lima handle her case. Aquino, however, refused to say whether De Lima was her choice for chief justice.

Aside from Mejia, Escudero and Tupas, the other JBC members are SC Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, retired SC Justice Regino Hermosisima, lawyer Milagros Fernan-Cayosa from the IBP, retired Court of Appeals Justice Aurora Lagman from the private sector, and DOJ Undersecretary for Special Concerns Michael Frederick Musngi, who substituted for the Justice secretary. – With Jess Diaz