DOJ chief among 16 nominees to SC

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa is among the 16 nominees for an imminent vacancy in the Supreme Court (SC) when Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr. retires in January next year.

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has received the nominations of President Aquino’s former chief presidential legal counsel and 15 others.

University of the Philippines law dean Danilo Concepcion had nominated Caguioa.

In a text message to The STAR,  Caguioa said the matter has not crossed his mind  as he is busy with his duties at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Insiders believe that Caguioa is the top contender for the SC post.

Caguioa took up economics and law at the Ateneo de Manila University.

He was a classmate and close friend of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares and Sen. Teofisto Guingona.

A son of the late Court of Appeals justice Eduardo Caguioa, he was a senior partner of the Caguioa and Gatmaytan law office.

He passed the Bar in 1986 after graduating from the Ateneo de Manila University law school in 1985.

Other nominees for the SC post are Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas, Rosmari Carandang, Mariflor Castillo and Stephen Cruz; Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justices Maria Cristina Cornejo and Alex Quiroz; Solicitor General Florin Hilbay; former Commission on Audit chairman Maria Gracia Pulido-Tan; chief state counsel Ricardo Paras III; Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera; Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 90 Presiding Judge Reynaldo Daway; Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption Rep. Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales; and lawyer Joe-Santos Bisquera.

The seven-member JBC is the constitutional body tasked to screen nominees to the judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman.

JBC member Jose Mejia said the public interviews would be held in January next year.

The seven-member council could come up with a shortlist by February next year, he added.

President Aquino may be able to name his sixth appointee to the SC before the period covered by the election ban on midnight appointments.

Villarama was supposed to retire on April 14 next year when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. However, he requested optional retirement effective Jan.16, 2016 due to his deteriorating health.