16 bets for SC post to face JBC next month

MANILA, Philippines - The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) is set to interview next month the 16 aspirants for the imminent vacancy in the Supreme Court (SC) due to the early retirement of Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr. over health problems.

In an announcement published in The STAR yesterday, the JBC has scheduled the public interviews on Jan. 7 and 8 next year.

Eight of the nominees will face the council on the first day of interviews: Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas, Rosmari Carandang, Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo; Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Maria Cristina Cornejo; Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa; Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera; Quezon Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption party-list Rep. Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales and lawyer Joe-Santos Bisquera.

On the second day, the other eight bets will take their turn: CA Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr., Associate Justices Jose Reyes Jr. and Stephen Cruz; Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Alex Quiroz; Solicitor General Florin Hilbay; former Commission on Audit chairperson Maria Gracia Pulido-Tan and Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 90 Judge Reynaldo Daway.

After the interviews, the council could then come up with a shortlist by February next year, which means President Aquino may be able to name his sixth appointee in the high tribunal.

Posts in the SC are exempted from the ban per the high court’s 2010 ruling for the vacancy in the retirement of then chief justice Reynato Puno, which Aquino had questioned.