Palace to JBC: Submit list of nominees for next chief justice

Malacañang on Sunday urged the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to submit to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo its list of nominees for the next chief justice so that an appointment could be made soon. “As we have said all along, we are encouraging the Judicial and Bar Council na ipadala po ang kanilang mga listahan kay Pangulo at based on that magkakaroon ngayon ng pagkakataon ang Pangulo na mag-desisyon kung itutuloy niya [ang pag-appoint] kung sino ang papalit kay Chief Justice [Reynato] Puno," deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said. (As we have said all along, we are encouraging the Judicial and Bar Council to send its list to the President so that the President could name the replacement of Chief Reynato Puno based on that list.) Puno is set to take a two-week sabbatical leave starting March 17, or two months before his retirement on May 17. The JBC is an eight-man council that screens nominees for vacant judicial posts. The issue on the appointment of Puno’s successor has triggered legal and political debates as it is the first time the retirement of the chief justice falls on a period covered by election ban on appointments mandated under the 1987 Constitution. The Philippines will have its first ever nationwide automated elections on May 10, or seven days before Puno’s retirement. Government lawyers, however, have asked the Supreme Court to declare that President Arroyo has the absolute power to appoint the next chief justice, saying the ban does not cover the chief justice post. Olivar said President Arroyo would consider national interest in choosing the next head of the judiciary from the JBC list. Among those whose nominations have been accepted by the JBC were Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Associate Justices Renato Corona, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Arturo Brion, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval. - KBK, GMANews.TV