JBC shortlists 5 nominees for Visayas ombudsman

MANILA, Philippines - The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has shortlisted five nominees for the vacancy in the Office of the Ombudsman for the Visayas, as deputy ombudsman Pelagio Apostol will retire on Aug. 21.

Six of the seven-member council chaired by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno came up with the shortlist through  voting yesterday.

Former Cebu City judge Geraldine Faith Econg, who is now part of the SC’s project management office, and Ombudsman director Carla Juris Narvios-Tanco topped the list after garnering five votes each.

Econg was appointed by Sereno as head of the regional court administration office (RCAO) in Cebu City in 2012. The high court recalled her appointment due to lack of collegial approval.  

Also in the shortlist are former ombudsman director Paul Elmer Clemente, Presidential Commission on Good Government Commissioner Vincent Gengos Jr. and Gilbert Kintanar, chief of staff of Commission on Audit Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan. They got four votes each.

The five final candidates were chosen from nine nominees. The others were Commissioner Jennifer Manalili of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Jose Vicente Opinion, Mary Susan Guillermo and Roque Damian Dator.

The JBC, the constitutional body tasked to vet nominees to posts in the judiciary and ombudsman, said the shortlist would be transmitted to President Aquino for approval.