JBC starts application process for next chief justice
MANILA, Philippines — The Judicial and Bar Council on Monday has announced the opening of the application for chief justice, the office vacated by Maria Lourdes Sereno.
The deadline for filing and completing all requirements is on July 26, 2018.
This comes after the SC, on June 19, affirmed its decision on the government’s quo warranto petition that nullified Sereno’s appointment as chief justice in 2012.
The SC reiterated in the ruling its order to the JBC “to commence the application and nomination process for the position of the chief justice without delay.”
Under the 1987 Constitution, the vacancy at the Office of the Chief Justice must be filled within 90 days. This means that President Rodrigo Duterte must appoint the next chief justice by September 16.
All applicants must file their documentary requirements, which include application or recommendation, personal data sheet, certificate of employment, several clearances, medical examination results and Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
The JBC, after evaluating the requirements, will release a list of candidates who will have to go through a public interview.
After the public interview, the JBC will draw up a shortlist that will then be submitted to the president.
Automatic nomination
The JBC also said that the five most senior justices receive automatic nominations to be the next chief justice. They may submit their written acceptance of nomination on or before July 26, 2018.
The five are Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin.
Velasco, however, is due to retire on August 8, while De Castro will hang up her SC justice robes on October 8.
READ: JBC draws up shortlist for Duterte’s fifth appointee to SC
Carpio is the most senior associate justice at the high tribunal, but he has already said that he will decline the nomination.
In an interview with ANC on June 20, Carpio said that he has to be “consistent” with his position on the quo warranto ruling. “On a personal level, because I have voted against it, I don’t want to benefit from it, so I will decline any nomination,” he said.
The senior associate justice was a member of the legal team that fought, and won, the country’s case on the West Philippine Sea before a United Nations-backed tribunal. He continues to issue statements that go against the current administration’s position on the maritime dispute with China.
Carpio, in a separate interview at the CNN earlier, said the Philippines’ sovereignty is “far more important than any position.”
Duterte will also appoint the next ombudsman—for a fixed term of seven years—and an SC associate justice.
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