28 apply for lone Supreme Court vacancy

A total of 28 justices from the public and private sectors will try their luck to be part of the Supreme Court. This, as the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) — the panel constitutionally mandated to screen nominees for vacant posts in the judiciary — formally closed on Monday the nomination and application for the lone vacancy in the 15-member tribunal. Chief Justice Renato Corona said most of the hopefuls came from other courts such as the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, and the Court of Tax Appeals, while others came from the private sector. The vacancy at the SC came about when Corona replaced retired Reynato Puno, who reached the mandatory age of retirement last May 17. President Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III has until August 17 to appoint an SC justice, as the Constitution mandates that the incumbent president should fill-up vacancies in the high court within 90 days upon vacancy. Among those who either applied or nominated for the vacancy were CA Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr., CA Associate Justices Hakim Abdulwahid, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Magdangal De Leon, Isaias Dicdican, Noel Tijam, Portia Aliño Hormachuelos, Rosmari Carandang, Remedios Salazar-Fernando, and Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo. Other candidates are CTA Associate Justice Lovell Bautista and law deans Raul Pangalangan of University of the Philippines (UP), Cesar Villanueva of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and Amado Valdez of the University of the East. Ambassador Manuel Teehankee, a former Undersecretary of the Department of Justice but is now the permanent Philippine representative to the World Trade Organization, has also accepted his nomination to the post. The JBC, which has eight members including Corona, is expected to review the credentials of the applicants by accepting comments or opposition from the public before subjecting them to a public interview. - KBK, GMANews.TV