Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta is now the acting presiding justice of the Court of Appeals (CA) with the mandatory retirement last Sept. 2 of Presiding Justice Remedios A. Salazar Fernando.
Being the most senior associate justice, Peralta will lead the CA, the second highest court of the land, until Fernando’s successor is appointed by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the constitutional office that nominates appointments in the judiciary, has yet to submit its nominees to the post of CA presiding justice.
The JBC had earlier announced that aside from Peralta, the other aspirants to the post are, in alphabetical order, CA Associate Justices Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela, Ramon M. Bato Jr., Apolinario D. Bruselas Jr., Mariflor P. Castillo, Marlene B. Gonzales-Sison, and Edwin D. Sorongon.
The JBC had also conducted public interviews of the aspirants and is expected to announce shortly its nominees.
Under the Constitution, the President has to appoint a replacement within 90 days from the date of the vacancy.