JBC to submit Ombudsman shortlist to PNoy in July

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will be submitting to President Benigno Aquino III in early July the shortlist from where the latter will choose the new Ombudsman. "Hopefully by July 4 we will be able to submit a list to the President [from where he will] choose the next Ombudsman," JBC member Sen. Francis Escudero said during the weekly forum at the Senate. Escudero chairs the Senate justice committee, which enables him to be a member of the JBC. The JBC had earlier said there are 26 qualified candidates for the Ombudsman post. But Escudero said they will still have to trim the list until there are only at least three qualified candidates left. "(But it) can be as many by five or eight," he said. Escudero said Aquino will have one month to decide whom to appoint from the list, based on the 90-day period prescribed by the law for the President to replace a former Ombudsman. Former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez's resignation took effect last May 6 – three days before the scheduled Senate impeachment trial against her. Among the candidates who have officially accepted their nominations for the Ombudsman post include Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, De La Salle University of the Philippines law dean and Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) national chair Jose Manuel Diokno, Alternative Law Groups head Marlon Manuel, and advocacy lawyer Ernesto Francisco. Those who have declined their nominations include Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and former Chief Justice Reynato Puno. The JBC The JBC is the constitutional body that vets, screens, and recommends to the President appointees to the judiciary and appointees to the positions of Ombudsman and deputy Ombudsman. The JBC is composed of the Supreme Court chief justice as ex-officio chair, with the Justice secretary, and chairs 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. Section 8 of the law states that in case of a vacancy in the Office of the Ombudsman due to resignation, "the Overall Deputy shall serve as Acting Ombudsman in a concurrent capacity until a new Ombudsman shall have been appointed for a full term." — RSJ, GMA News