The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) Monday finalized the list of nominees for the chief justice position and will submit it to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday, May 5. Those who made it on the list were Supreme Court Associate Justices Renato Corona, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, and Arturo Brion; and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval. In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor Sr., JBC ex-officio member, said the body decided to defer the submission until Wednesday to give the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) a chance to file a second motion for reconsideration with the Supreme Court. Last week, PBA president and former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo asked the JBC to defer its special meeting to give way to its second appeal it is expected to file. The group seeks to ask the high court to reconsider its March 17 ruling allowing President Arroyo to pick the next chief justice despite the constitutional ban on appointments during the election period. Chief Justice Reynato Puno, also the ex-officio chairman of the JBC, will vacate his post on May 17 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. The Supreme Court justices got eight votes each from JBC members, an eight-member council tasked by the Constitution to screen candidates for vacancies in judicial posts, while Sandoval got seven. Defensor said lawyer Jay Castro, who is representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), was absent in the special meeting and was the only one who did not vote for Sandoval. The body proceeded to hold the meeting despite Marcelo's request because it was mandated to come up with a shortlist at the soonest possible time, Defensor said. The Supreme Court would hold an en banc meeting on Tuesday to decide whether or not to submit the list to President Arroyo. Malaca?ang on Sunday said President Arroyo would appoint the next chief justice as soon as she receives the list of nominees from the JBC. Militant party-list group Bayan Muna, meanwhile, asked the JBC not to submit its list of nominees to Malaca?ang in light of the coming elections and the possible cases of fraud and failure. “The Supreme Court will resolve cases of electoral fraud and even failure of the 2010 elections. It is necessary that the Supreme Court does not suffer from the public perception that the Arroyo-appointed Chief Justice will be biased in favor of the President,” said Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares. Colmenares added that President Arroyo should not be allowed to appoint at most two justices in the Supreme Court at this time. He urged the JBC not to submit the list to ensure that no disturbance takes place should a failure of elections be declared. Should a Supreme Court associate justice be appointed as the next chief justice, legal experts earlier said the President can appoint another justice to fill the vacancy. Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casi?o likewise expressed fears that President Arroyo may be preparing for the possible cases that may be filed against her once she steps down. “The insistence of Arroyo in appointing the Chief Justice and another justice is nothing more than an attempt to consolidate her hold of the Court, with the hope that she will get a favorable decision once the plunder case against her is elevated to the Court,” he said.
