Miriam eyes chief justice post

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago will vie anew for the position of chief justice this year and compete against five senior justices of the Supreme Court.

In a press conference, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Santiago, being an outsider, will have to undergo a public interview to be conducted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

"Senator Santiago will always have a chance. She has the stature, experience and qualification. She could be breaking tradition. It could be something that is new," Gonzalez said.

Santiago has served as a lower court judge and commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration before becoming senator.

She lost to Fidel Ramos in the 1992 presidential election, which she said was due to vote padding and shaving or dagdag-bawas.

Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban is retiring on Dec. 7 and the JBC had declared the nomination for the position of the 22nd SC chief justice open last Oct. 10.

The most senior among the justices of the high court — Associate Justices Reynato Puno, Leonardo Quisumbing, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrrez and Antonio Carpio — automatically made up the list of five nominees.

The JBC cited that under the Constitution, all applicants for judicial positions must be natural born citizens of the Philippines, must be at least 40 years old and must have served as judge of a lower court or engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for 15 years.

"The Constitution also mandates that a member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence," the JBC said.

The deadline for the submission of endorsement and application for chief justice was Oct. 30.

Last year, the JBC junked the recommendation of the Young Lawyers of the Philippines (YLAP) to include Santiago in the list of candidates for the 21st chief justice due to the late filing of Santiago’s nomination.

Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan said during the en banc voting held on Nov. 25 last year that the JBC junked the request of the YLAP to extend the time for the filing of nomination for the post of chief justice.

Pangilinan even wrote to former chief justice Hilario Davide seeking, on behalf of YLAP, the extension of the submission of nominees for chief justice.

Davide, who turned 70 on Dec. 20 last year, was replaced by Panganiban.