‘Rush selection process for vacancies in Sandiganbayan’

Fourteen Sandiganbayan justices asked the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) yesterday to start the selection process for for the four vacancies expected by the end of October so the dispensation of justice of the anti-graft court will not be jeopardized.

In a two-page resolution, the Sandiganbayan justices, led by acting Presiding Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, said the screening committee for aspiring members of the judiciary should "accelerate the appointment process" by expediting nominations for the possible successors of their four colleagues.

This should be done, they said, "through immediate publication of the existing vacancy and the forthcoming vacancies and opening the same to nominations or applications by interested groups or individuals."

By the end of October, the 15-member Sandiganbayan (with three justices in each of the five divisions) will have four vacancies as a result of the retirements of Justice Nicodemo Ferrer last Aug. 3, Catalino Castañeda on Sept. 20, Anacleto Badoy on Oct. 19 and Narciso Nario on Oct. 29.

"The prolonged simultaneous and permanent absence of about one-third of its membership will most certainly result in serious disruption of the normal course of business in the Sandiganbayan to the detriment of the efficient administration of justice," the justices said in their resolution.