MANILA, Philippines - Congress will refuse to participate in the public interview conducted by and the deliberations of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) regarding the selection of the next chief justice.
In a television interview, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, one of the two original representatives of Congress in the JBC, said he and Sen. Francis Escudero should be allowed to participate in the proceedings.
He said the House and Senate are "two distinct" legislative bodies and that giving them one representative in the JBC would be insufficient to represent the legislative.
Escudero, on the other hand, said they were instructed to skip the JBC deliberation until the Supreme Court decides on the petition assailing the legality of Congress having two representatives to the JBC.
The SC has granted the petition of former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez to declare the eight-man composition of the JBC as unconstitutional.