SC spokesman: CJ candidates to undergo thorough NBI check

Candidates for the post of chief justice will undergo a discreet investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez also said that while the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) started the selection process last Monday, the process would likely be a long one. “Mahaba ang prosesong iyan. The process will start with a public announcement informing the people that the position for chief justice is being opened. Then, a discreet NBI investigation will be done on all applicants, which will be followed by the publication of their names by the JBC," Marquez said in an interview on dzXL radio. After that, he said, the JBC will hold a public interview of the candidates and then consider comments and opposition from the people and other concerned sectors. Based on the outcome of the interviews and the opposition from concerned sectors, Marquez said the JBC would come out with a short list of the candidates, and transmit it to the Office of the President. “Ang Office of the President may sariling proseso ang appointment. Siguro, sa pagtanggap titingnan nila ang mga pangalan at gagawa ng sariling investigation din. Depende yan kung kailan nila tatapusin ang investigation process, at kung kalian siya (President) magtatalaga (The Office of the President will have its own procedures, including holding its own investigation of the names. It depends on the Office of the President when it will make the selection)," he said. Marquez also stressed that Malacañang cannot appoint a chief justice who is not in the JBC list. “Di pupuwede yan. Kung wala sa listahan ng JBC, di pwede italaga yan kung pagbabasehan natin ang nakaraang proseso (That cannot be. If one is not in the JBC list, he or she cannot be selected, based on our present procedures)," he said. Non-Arroyo appointee The JBC, tasked by the 1987 Constitution to submit nominees for vacant judicial posts, will seek experts’ opinions whether it was legal to find a replacement for Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who is set to retire on May 17 or 10 days after the presidential elections. Puno is the only non-Arroyo appointee to the 15-member High Court. Malacañang officials have repeatedly said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can appoint the replacement of Puno despite conflicting constitutional provisions regarding the matter. "If the JBC chaired by the Chief Justice will start processing, then that impliedly recognizes the authority of the President to appoint," Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Monday. "We are being sustained by the JBC which is a branch of the Supreme Court." Section 15, Article VII of the Philippine Constitution – which prohibits the incumbent president from appointing anyone to any executive position two months before a presidential election – does not apply in Puno’s case, Arroyo’s allies claim. Instead, they claim that Section 4(1), Article 8 – which mandates that a Supreme Court vacancy should be filled within 90 days once the position remains vacant – is the provision that should be considered. - LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV