Eight nominees being considered for Sandiganbayan head

Eight nominees are being considered for the position of presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan, the Philippines’ anti-graft court. This was announced on Thursday by the Judicial and Bar Council, the body that screens nominees for vacant judicial posts. Of these eight candidates, one is an associate justice whose appointment to the Supreme Court (SC) was recalled in 2007 owing to citizenship issues. The anti-graft court’s top position has remained vacant since April 4, when Presiding Justice Norberto Geraldez passed away due to pancreatic cancer complications. Associate Justice Gregory Ong, whose SC appointment was recalled by Malacañang in 2007, leads nominees for the vacant post. The Palace was prompted to recall his appointment after the SC issued a July 2007 decision preventing Ong from accepting his designation as the High Court’s associate justice until he proves through a court proceeding that he is a natural-born Filipino. In September 2009, the Court of Appeals affirmed Ong’s Filipino citizenship. The next Sandiganbayan presiding justice, who will be appointed by President Benigno Aquino III, is expected to play a crucial role because the court has jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases involving government officials. Besides Ong, other nominees include Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval, who, being the most senior, was automatically appointed in an acting capacity. Sandoval submitted his application after he was not appointed to the SC upon Chief Justice Reynato Puno's retirement. Sandiganbayan Associate Justices Efren dela Cruz and Francisco Villaruz; SC deputy court administrators Nimfa Vilches and Edwin Villasor; Regional Trial Court judges Renato Francisco (Malolos) and Pedro Corales (Pasay) are the other nominees. Corales earned a reputation of being able to decide on a case in just one day, in a 2005 case involving Georges Brion, a member of the Belgian parliament who was attending the Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly when he was mugged and robbed by a tricycle driver in a Pasay City side street. Francisco, on the other hand, is a judge known for handling environmental cases. Applications and nominations of the candidates were received from May 7 to May 17. A public interview of the candidates has yet to be scheduled. - RJAB Jr./JV, GMANews.TV