The Judicial and Bar Council will start its vetting process for the five nominees for chief justice post on Aug. 16.
“Public interviews for all nominees for the post of Chief Justice on Aug. 16, 9 am onwards at the Division Hearing Room, SC (Supreme Court) New Building,” the SC Public Information Office said, in its Twitter account.
The five aspirants for the most coveted post in the judiciary who managed to beat the July 26 deadline for the submission of applications and requirements are SC Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin, Andres Reyes Jr., and Tagum City, Davao del Norte Regional Trial Court, Branch 1, Judge Virginia Tejano-Ang.
The top judiciary post was left vacant after the SC granted the petition for quo warranto seeking the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for her failure to comply with the constitutional requirement for the submission of Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth for 10 years.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the JBC, said that the JBC will hold its final deliberations on August 31 to come up with a shortlist of nominees for the Chief Justice post that will be submitted to President Duterte for his consideration of the next Chief Justice.
Of the five SC justices who were automatically nominated to the Chief Justice post, only Justices De Castro, Peralta and Bersamin accepted it.
Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, who is the concurrent chairman of the JBC, opted to decline the nomination, while Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. did not apply since he is retiring on August 7.
Reyes accepted the nomination for chief justice after being endorsed by retired JBC Member and retired Sandiganbayan Justice Raul Victorino.
Last Tuesday, the SC endorsed the nomination of its four justices, with Bersamin getting the highest number of votes from his colleagues.
Bersamin got 10 votes, De Castro and Peralta had nine votes each, while Reyes got two votes.
Bersamin, appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the SC in 2009, was a former Court of Appeals associate justice.
Prior to being a CA magistrate, he was the presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, Branch 96. He will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 in October 2019.
Peralta, a former Sandiganbayan presiding justice, was also appointed by Arroyo to the SC on Jan. 13, 2009. He will retire in March 2022.
De Castro, the third most senior magistrate of the High Court, was among those who testified against ousted Chief Justice Sereno during the impeachment proceedings at the House of Representatives.
Prior to her appointment to the SC, De Castro served as a law clerk at the High Court, state counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ), and presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan. She penned the ruling convicting former president Joseph Estrada of plunder. De Castro is set to retire this October.
Reyes, a former CA presiding justice, was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the SC in July 2017.
Meanwhile, the JBC also opened the nomination for associate justice of the SC to replace newly appointed Ombudsman Samuel Martires.
This came after the Supreme Court has approved the early retirement of Martires who was chosen by President Rodrigo Duterte to replace Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales whose term ended last July 26.
In its announcement, the JBC said applications or recommendations with the letter of acceptance and other documentary requirements must be submitted on or before September 3, 2018.
The rules require applicants to submit documentary requirements, including their complete sworn statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for the previous years.
All applicants must also submit the results of their medical examinations that they took within the past six months.
The JBC is chaired by Acting Chief Justice Carpio with ex-officio members – Senator Richard Gordon and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali on a sharing term, and Secretary Guevarra.