MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) will be dominated by appointees of President Duterte later this year.
With the latest appointment of Associate Justice Henri Jean-Paul Inting, the high court currently has seven appointees of Duterte among its 15 members.
The other six are Associate Justices Andres Reyes Jr., Alexander Gesmundo, Jose Reyes Jr., Ramon Paul Hernando, Rosmari Carandang and Amy Lazaro-Javier.
But later this year, the President is expected to appoint five more magistrates in the SC due to the retirement of both Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio in October and Associate Justices Mariano del Castillo and Francis Jardeleza in July and September, respectively.
There is also an expected vacancy once Bersamin’s replacement from the high court is appointed.
By that time, there will be a total of 12 Duterte-appointed justices – a clear majority – sitting in the high tribunal that will decide on crucial cases involving the administration, including the Chico River and Kaliwa Dam loan projects with China.
The SC, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, is also expected to act on the election protest of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo from their 2016 vice presidential face-off.
Duterte has actually appointed nine associate justices in the SC so far, but two of them are no longer with the Court.
Samuel Martires was appointed ombudsman in July last year while Noel Tijam retired from the judiciary last January.