JBC to await final Supreme Court ruling on chief justice appointment

MANILA, Philippines – The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) opted yesterday to wait for the Supreme Court (SC) to rule with finality on the issue of the appointment of the next chief justice before submitting its shortlist of candidates to President Arroyo.

Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said the JBC has set public interviews with the six remaining aspirants for the top SC post on April 19 and 20 in Baguio City. The justice chief is ex-officio member of the JBC.

The six candidates are Senior Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Renato Corona; Associate Justices Conchita Carpio-Morales, Arturo Brion and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro; and Sandiganbayan Senior Justice Edilberto Sandoval.

After a meeting in Baguio City, Agra said the JBC agreed to just ask Carpio and Morales during the scheduled interviews if they would reconsider their position to accept their nominations only if the next president would make the appointment of Puno’s successor.

The eight-man council, according to Agra, expects the High Court to rule on several appeals of its controversial decision in the next few weeks during the summer session in Baguio.

“So definitely we would be able to submit the shortlist before May 17,” he told reporters in a teleconference. Puno is set to retire on May 17.

Other members of the JBC are: Sen. Francis Escudero, Rep. Matias Defensor Jr., retired SC justice Regino Hermosisima Jr., UST Dean Emeritus Amado Dimayuga, Justice Aurora Santiago Lagman and Integrated Bar of the Philippines representative J. Conrado Castro.

The JBC earlier opted to await an SC ruling on consolidated petitions of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) and lawyers Arturo de Castro and Estelito Mendoza before proceeding with the selection of the next chief justice.

In its comment filed with the SC, the JBC promised to abide by whatever ruling the SC would render on the case.

“Since the Honorable Supreme Court is the final interpreter of the Constitution, the JBC will be guided by its decision in these consolidated petitions and administrative matter,” the JBC said.

The Supreme Court, by a vote of 9-1-3, has ruled that the ban on appointments under Article VII Section 15 of the Constitution does not apply to positions in the High Court, including the chief justice.

Meanwhile, lawyers based in Baguio City and La Union massed outside the SC compound in the city to protest the high court’s ruling allowing Mrs. Arroyo to appoint Puno’s successor.

Daniel Mangallay, president of the IBP-Baguio and Benguet chapter, led the protesting lawyers.

Earlier, the lawyers displayed a “wreath for the dead” outside the SC compound. - With Artemio Dumlao