Chief justice aspirants to be interviewed Dec. 1

The top nominees to replace Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. who will retire next month have been scheduled for interviews before the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Dec. 1, the Supreme Court said yesterday.

Supreme Court Justices Reynato Puno, Artemio Panganiban and Leonardo Quisumbing have been scheduled for interview and screening by the JBC along with Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago and Angelina Sandoval Gutierrez, who were automatically considered as replacements for Davide who will retire on Dec. 19.

SC Clerk of Court Ma. Luisa Villarama said the two female magistrates have waived their automatic nomination, thus allowing their senior colleagues to qualify as the next SC chief justice.

Villarama said the screening will start on Dec. 1 with Quisumbing slated to be interviewed first followed by Panganiban and Puno.

Davide, as the outgoing chief justice, will lead the interview being the JBC ex-officio chairman.

Puno, the most senior of the three candidates, is the concurrent chairman of the SC’s Second Division and Senate Electoral Tribunal.

Prior to his appointment to the SC, Puno served as a Court of Appeals (CA) justice and a regional trial court judge, and was one of the lawyers of the Office of Solicitor General and Deputy Minister of Justice. He also holds the distinction of being the youngest appointee to the CA at the age of 40.

Panganiban, on the other hand, is the concurrent chairman of the SC’s Third Division and the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).

Before his appointment to the SC, Panganiban was a practicing lawyer, a law professor, a Catholic lay leader and a businessman.