JBC to submit Miriam, 5 other nominees for SC chief to GMA

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will submit a list of six nominees, including Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, to President Arroyo for the post of Supreme Court chief justice.

From the list, the President will choose the successor of Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said yesterday.

Gonzalez said the JBC, of which he is a member, is not limited to submit only three names of those vying to be the tribunal’s 22nd chief justice.

Panganiban will reach mandatory retirement on Dec. 7 when he turns 70.

"It is not a must to (be limited to) three names. Probably, this time the JBC will submit six," Gonzalez told a press briefing.

Gonzalez said Sen. Francis Pangilinan, a representative of the Senate to the JBC, is insisting that Santiago be subjected to a public interview by the JBC.

"Senator Santiago is an open book, a wide-open book. But Senator Pangilinan insists that she must undergo interview. I don’t really know about that because I heard that (Sen. Juan Ponce) Enrile is now the chairman of the justice committee of the Senate. So, it is possible that Enrile will replace Pangilinan in the JBC," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez confirmed last Thursday that Santiago is again vying for the post. She will go up against Supreme Court Associate Justices Reynato Puno, Leonardo Quisumbing, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrrez and Antonio Carpio. The five senior justices were automatically included in the list of candidates.

Gonzalez said Santiago would have to undergo a JBC public interview because she is an outsider.

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

The JBC opened the judiciary’s top post for nomination last Oct. 10. The deadline for nominations was Oct. 30.

Nominees to the Supreme Court should 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.

Santiago served as a lower court judge and commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration before she was elected to the Senate.

Santiago thanked the Young Lawyers Association of the Philippines (YLAP) for the nomination and maintained that there would be no hard feelings if she doesn’t get appointed. She added that she was not in a hurry to leave the Senate.