MANILA, Philippines — The three Supreme Court justices vying for the top judge spot will face the Judicial and Bar Council for a public interview on Friday.
The JBC, the panel tasked to screen applicants to the Judiciary, has allotted two hours for each of applicants vying for the spot to be vacated by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on March 27.
Related Stories
Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe, the most senior among applicants, is first to face the panel, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Associate Justices Alexander Gesmundo and Ramon Paul Hernando will be interviewed in the afternoon, starting 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., with two hours also allotted for each of them.
Get to know the applicants in this report.
The change of SC leadership comes at a time when the legal profession is demanding greater action from the Judiciary on attacks and killings in their profession. Rights groups are also urging the SC to look into its earlier circular that created what they call "warrant factories." The tribunal is also deliberating on the 37 legal challenges filed against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, one of the most contested laws in the country.
Past public interviews for SC justice — and even for ombudsman — aspirants centered on the applicants’ reform plans in the institution, their wealth declaration documents, oppositions filed to their candidacy and their opinions on controversial cases.
After the public interview, the JBC will draw up the shortlist, with minimum of three names, for consideration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has the appointing authority.
This will be Duterte’s fourth time to pick a chief justice in his term. Since all current applicants are also from the Bench, a subsequent designation as next chief justice would create another vacancy at the tribunal, which already has 11 of Duterte’s appointees.
Peralta is stepping down a year ahead of his mandatory retirement age. He has yet to make public why he opted to quit early, but said he eyes returning to teaching after his stint in the tribunal.
Watch the public interview LIVE, which will start at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, Mar. 12, 2021.