The Judicial and Bar Council has opened the period of application and a nomination for associate justice of the Supreme Court left vacant by the promotion of Associate Justice Teresita-Leonardo de Castro to chief justice, the position previously held by ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
“The JBC announces the opening, for application or recommendation, of the position of Supreme Court Associate Justice (vice Hon. Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro, who was appointed Chief Justice on 25 August 2018),” the JBC said in its public advisory.
“Interested applicants shall submit two complete sets of application or recommendation with conforme, together with all the documentary requirements to the JBC Office not later than 4:30 pm of 1 October 2018.”
The council said the date of actual receipt by the JBC of the complete documentary requirements will be deemed as the date of filing.
Applicants and nominees are also required to submit to the JBC the Service Record of applicants who have been employed in the government at any point, issued not earlier than April 1, 2018, Certificate of Assumption of Office or Oath of Office of applicant’s current position (applies only to Justices, Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers from Government Offices who have judicial rank), Income Tax Returns or Certificates of Compensation Payment/Tax Withheld for Years 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the Sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth for the last 10 years.
The JBC, which is tasked by the Constitution to vet and screen the applicants and nominees to the high court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and the Office of the Ombudsman, said the body will not entertain those who failed to submit all the documents within the deadline.