JBC sets voting on shortlist for chief justice

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) is set to come up with its shortlist for the next chief justice this Friday.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, ex-officio member of the JBC, revealed they were supposed to deliberate on the vacancy yesterday after conducting public interviews of five aspirants last Aug. 16.

“We reset it to Aug. 24 to have more time to review all the documents submitted by the nominees, particularly the SALNs (statements of assets, liabilities and net worth),” he told reporters.

The five candidates for the top judicial post vacated by Ma. Lourdes Sereno last June are Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Andres Reyes Jr. and Tagum City, Davao del Norte Regional Trial Court Judge Virginia Tejano-Ang. They faced the JBC in public interviews last week.

Guevarra explained that the council wanted to scrutinize all nominees and applicants, particularly their proven integrity which was the basis for Sereno’s ouster.

“We are being extra careful in the screening for the chief justice post. Surely, the Sereno quo warranto case has taught us many lessons from which we in the JBC can draw guidance in future deliberations not only for the chief justice position but also for all judicial positions which require utmost honesty and impeccable integrity,” he stressed.

Guevarra explained that the JBC has the task now to ensure that the next chief justice cannot be subject to another quo warranto case that could have repercussions on the stability of the judiciary.

To recall, Sereno was ousted from the top judicial post after the high court ruled with finality last June to invalidate her appointment in 2012 and grant the quo warranto petition by Solicitor General Jose Calida.

The SC held that she was disqualified from the post due to failure to meet the proven integrity eligibility by her failure to submit all required SALNs when she was teaching law at the University of the Philippines and during her application for the post, effectively reversing the finding of the JBC when it shortlisted her for the post.

The council has required submission of at least 10 SALNs but Sereno only submitted three – for 1998, 2002 and 2006 and still made it to the shortlist.

The JBC currently has six members, with acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio as chair. The others are Guevarra, Sen. Richard Gordon, retired SC justice Jose Catral Mendoza, retired judge Toribio Ilao and lawyer Milagros Fernan-Cayosa.

Last month, the SC submitted to the JBC its recommendation for the chief justice vacancy and endorsed all its four members vying for the post.

Bersamin topped the list after getting the unanimous votes of the 10 other justices, while De Castro and Peralta got 10 votes each. Reyes, on the other hand, got two votes. They were among the eight justices who voted to oust Sereno.

De Castro, Peralta and Bersamin accepted their automatic nominations for the post enjoyed by the five most senior justices of the SC. Reyes and Ang, on the other hand, applied for the post.

An insider bared that President Duterte is most likely to appoint one of the senior justices.

“From what we have seen so far in his appointments in the judiciary, the President respects seniority in the judicial ranks,” commented the source, who requested anonymity due to lack of authority to speak on the matter.

When Sereno was appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III, she bypassed all five senior justices.

The 1987 Constitution requires the chief justice, just like associate justices of the SC, to be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years old, have experience as judge or in private law practice for at least 15 years, and to be a person with proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.

The JBC started the search for Sereno’s replacement last June 25, after the high court made final its decision ousting her from the top judicial post last June 19.

The Constitution requires that the chief justice position be filled within 90 days from vacancy. This means Duterte needs to appoint Sereno’s replacement by Sept. 16.