JBC starts interview of Supreme Court aspirants today

MANILA, Philippines – Public interviews of candidates for a vacant seat in the Supreme Court start today.

The first three candidates to face the Judicial and Bar Council are Court of Appeals Associate Justice Hakim Abdulwahid, and Presiding Justice Ernesto Acosta and Associate Justice Lovell Bautista of the Court of Tax Appeals.

In the afternoon, they will be followed by CA Associate Justices Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo and Japar Dimaampao.

On Wednesday, the JBC will interview five more applicants: CA Justices Remedios Salazar- Fernando and Portia Hormachuelos, lawyer Katrina Legarda, lawyer-accountant Epifania Mendoza, and former UP Law Dean Raul Pangalangan.

The next five to be interviewed on Thursday are Sandiganbayan acting Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval Jr., elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Bienvenido Reyes.

The aspirants to face JBC on Friday are UE Law Dean Amado Valdez, former defense undersecretary for legal affairs Alberto Valenzuela Jr., CA Justice Vicente Veloso, Ateneo Law Dean Cesar Villanueva and Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr.

Only 20 candidates will undergo the interview because eight others had already been interviewed in September and November last year.

They are CA Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Rosmari Carandang, Magdangal de Leon, Isaias Dicdican, Jose Reyes Jr. and Noel Tijam; Ambassador Manuel Teehankee; and SC deputy court administrator Nimfa Vilches.

The JBC opened last June 21 its selection process to fill up the vacant slot in the SC.

SC spokesman Midas Marquez said under the rules, President Aquino has until Aug. 17 to get the shortlist and make the appointment.

Mr. Aquino gets to name four more SC justices during his term, he added.

These are replacements for Associate Justices Antonio Eduardo Nachura (June 13, 2011), Conchita Carpio-Morales (June 19, 2011), Roberto A. Abad (May 22, 2014) and Martin S. Villarama (April 14, 2016), Marquez said.