34 aspirants vying for 2 Supreme Court seats

After the Judicial and Bar Council extended the application period for two upcoming vacancies in the Supreme Court, six more have submitted their applications — bringing to 34 the number of aspirants to the seats to be vacated in the middle of the year. The JBC, the body thats vets, screens, and recommends to the President appointees to the judiciary, announced on Tuesday the six more candidates: Court of Appeals Associate Justice Amelita Tolentino, University of the East law school dean Amado Valdez, law professor and family law expert Katrina Legarda, and lawyers Sabino Padilla IV, Eduardo Lizares, and Pablito Sanidad. Supreme Court magistrates Eduardo Nachura and Conchita Carpio-Morales are set to hang their robes in June this year, when they reach the mandatory retirement age of 70. The deadline for the submission of applications was last March 28, but the council extended the application period to April 29. Before the deadline was extended, 28 aspirants have already submitted their applications. These include 17 Court of Appeals (CA) justices, two Sandiganbayan justices, two Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) justices, a delegate of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, a Commission on Elections commissioner and other law practitioners. These are CA Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Associate Justices Hakim Abdulwahid, Japar Dimaampao, Ramon Bato Jr., Estela Perlas Bernabe, Apolinario Bruselas Jr., Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo, Stephen Cruz, Magdangal de Leon, Isaias Dicdican, Remedios Salazar-Fernando, Portia Alino-Hormachuelos, Bienvenido Reyes, Jose Reyes Jr., Noel Tijam and Vicente Veloso. From the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, the applicants are Associate Justices Francisco Villaruz and Alex Quiroz, and aspirants from the Court of Tax Appeals are Justices Lovell Bautista and Juanito Castañeda Jr. The other aspirants included Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, constitutionalist Rodolfo Robles, former UP law dean Raul Pangalangan, lawyer Tomas Cabili and law books author Francis Jardeleza. There were also other aspirants coming from the judiciary, including deputy court administrator Nimfa Vilches and Biñan, Laguna Regional Trial Court Judge Marino Rubia. The 1987 Constitution gives the JBC the power to recommend appointees to the judiciary and to the positions of Ombudsman and deputy Ombudsman. For vacancies in the high tribunal and the lower courts, the council submits a shortlist of at least three nominees for the President to consider. The JBC The JBC is composed of the Supreme Court justice as ex-officio chair, with the Justice secretary, and chairpersons of the House and Senate justice committees as ex-officio members. The four other regular members come from representatives of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the academe, the private sector, and a retired member of the Supreme Court. The regular members are appointed by the president for a term of four years with the confirmation of the Commission on Appointments. — RSJ, GMA News