Noy to screen all SC bets

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang gave assurance yesterday that all seven nominees for the lone vacancy in the 15-member Supreme Court (SC) will be interviewed by President Aquino, even if chief government peace negotiator Marvic Leonen may have the clear advantage.

“As to the chances of each nominee, the President will give them the opportunity to be heard. The President will speak to them and, on that basis, choose who will be the next associate justice,” Secretary Edwin Lacierda, spokesman for Aquino, said.

He clarified, however, that no schedule has yet been set for the interviews of the candidates who have been included in the shortlist that the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) submitted to Aquino.

Lacierda also did not confirm or deny the report that Leonen – a former law dean of the University of the Philippines – was persuaded by Aquino to apply for the SC post vacated by Ma. Lourdes Sereno, who was promoted to chief justice last August.

“Certainly, the fact that he (Leonen) has worked with the President and the President has confidence in Leonen as a peace negotiator cannot be denied,” Lacierda told Palace reporters.

The deadline for filling the SC position is Nov. 22, or 90 days after the vacancy was created.

Palace insiders revealed that it was Aquino himself who asked Leonen to apply for the SC post. Apart from this, he was the only one among the seven nominees who was asked to submit his vision for the judiciary, which he already did.

The same sources related that Aquino was impressed with the way Leonen handled the peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that paved the way for the signing of the landmark framework agreement, after decades of conflict.

Lacierda stressed that Aquino will be fair to all the candidates.

“The President is fair to all nominees. He has not preempted, neither has he informed us of his choice,” he said.

“And, in that aspect, he would like to evaluate each nominee based on the constitutional standards of probity, independence, and integrity and, on that basis, he would be talking to all the nominees,” he reiterated.

Leonen was nominated to the high tribunal by former UP president Emerlinda Roman and human rights lawyer Pablito Sanidad, and the government chief negotiator accepted the nomination.

Once appointed, the former law professor will be spending more than two decades in the judiciary, since he is only in his late 40s.

Leonen topped the shortlist of seven nominees for the vacancy in the SC.

The others are former energy secretary Raphael Lotilla, Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr., CA Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang, CA Justices Noel Tijam and Jose Reyes Jr., and De La Salle University Law dean Jose Manuel Diokno.