JBC defers submission of list of nominees for Chief Justice post

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Monday decided to await the Supreme Court's final ruling before submitting to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo its shortlist of nominees for the position of Chief Justice. “Mahirap naman kasi kung magdesisyon kami. Iyon pala ay mababaliktad din ang desisyon ng Supreme Court (It wouldn't be wise to submit the list ahead of SC's final decision... if in the end, the ruling would be reversed)," JBC ex-officio member Francis Escudero told reporters in a chance interview. There are at least 11 motions for reconsideration filed before the high court asking it to reconsider its earlier decision which allowed Mrs. Arroyo to appoint the successor of Chief Justice Reynato Puno despite the constitutional ban on midnight appointments. [See: Supreme Court allows Arroyo to appoint next chief justice] The JBC, an eight-man panel constitutionally mandated to screen nominees vying for vacated judicial posts, held a meeting for three hours last Monday to deliberate on various issues regarding the appointment of Puno's successor. Aside from the deferring the submission of the shortlist, the JBC also reached a consensus to subject all the six nominees to a public interview. Candidates for the post are Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Renato Corona, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Arturo Brion and Sandiganbayan Justice Edilberto Sandoval. The interviews were set on April 19th and 20th but the panel has yet to form the mechanics. The JBC's decision was a deviation from the traditional practice that exempts members of the SC from such grilling. Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said the decision to break the tradition was made in order to give Carpio and Morales a chance to explain their side. Before the released the court made a ruling, Justices Carpio—who is one of the strongest contender for the post—and Morales accepted the nomination for the top judicial post on a condition that the list would be submitted to the next president. “That will be part of the interview. If they will attend the interviews, then that is our opportunity to ask them with regards to the conditions that they imposed in the acceptance of their nomination… We plan to clarify that so that there will be no doubts," Agra said. — with a report by Aie Balagtas See/LBG, GMANews.TV