Devanadera, Gesmundo top choices for Supreme Court vacancies

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera and Sandiganbayan Justice Alexander Gesmundo are the top choices of Supreme Court justices for the two vacant SC posts available after the retirement of Senior Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing on Nov. 6 and Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario on Dec. 5.

Eight of the 11 SC justices who were present during full Court session yesterday picked Devanadera and Gesmundo among 14 new and 21 old applicants, according to lawyer Jose Midas Marquez, spokesman for the SC.

It was the first time Devanadera was endorsed by the SC after the last five times she applied for a vacancy in the court since the retirement of Associate Justice Ruben Reyes.

She had applied for vacancies from the retirements of Justices Ruben Reyes, Adolfo Azcuna, Dante Tinga, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez and Consuelo Ynares-Santiago.

The endorsement of the DOJ chief, however, was conditional as it is subject to the decision of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on whether or not to exclude her in the selection process in connection with a pending case against her at the Office of the Ombudsman, Marquez clarified.

Devanadera is the first and only female mayor of Sampaloc, Quezon; the first and only female national president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines; the first and only female lawyer in Quezon who was admitted to the New York Bar; the first and only female government corporate counsel; and the first and only female solicitor general.

Gesmundo, on the other hand, is a first-time applicant.

In his interview with the JBC last Nov. 5, Gesmundo was grilled on the issue of delays in the disposition of the cases involving the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses considering that he was a former commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

He explained that the delay was due to several factors such as the number of parties, number of lawyers involved, the issue on the validity of the evidence, and the unavailability of the original documents pertaining to the ill-gotten properties that were confiscated by US authorities when the Marcoses fled to Hawaii at the height of the 1986 Edsa People Power.

Apart from the two, five other candidates were chosen by the justices: Court of Appeals Justice Magdangal de Leon got five votes, while CA Justices Rosmari Carandang and Jose Mendoza, CA court administrator Jose Perez and lawyer-businessman Rodolfo Robles got four votes each.

Marquez said the shortlist of the SC would be submitted to the JBC, which screens applicants to the High Court and submits its recommendation to the President for final selection.

“The shortlist of the SC is only recommendatory to the JBC. But under the rules, the recommendation of the Court should be given weight by JBC,” he told reporters in an interview.

Also among the applicants being considered by the JBC for the two vacant posts is Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr.

Last Nov. 7, President Arroyo chose CA Justice Martin Villarama Jr. as new associate justice of the SC in place of Justice Santiago who retired last Oct.5.