The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Wednesday, Sept. 6, submitted to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. the list of its seven nominees to the post of presiding justice of the Court of Appeals (CA), the country’s second highest court.
Nominated were (in alphabetical order) CA Associate Justices Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela, Ramon M. Bato Jr., Apolinario D. Bruselas Jr., Mariflor P. Castillo, Fernanda Lampas Peralta, Marlene B. Gonzales Sison, and Edwin D. Sorongon.
The JBC list was contained in a letter sent to the President by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, ex-officio chairperson of the JBC.
Under the Constitution, one of the seven nominees has to be appointed by the President within 90 days from Sept. 2, the date of the vacancy.
The vacancy occurred when CA Presiding Justice Remedios A. Salazar Fernando retired last Sept. 2 when she turned 70, the mandatory retirement age for members of the judiciary.
The seven nominees were also the seven applicants who were subjected to public interviews by the JBC, the constitutional office that accepts, screens, and nominates appointments in the judiciary.
With the retirement of Fernando, Peralta – the most senior CA associate justice – assumed the post of acting presiding justice.
Peralta was appointed as CA associate Justice in 2004; Bato, 2004; Bruselas, 2005; Castillo, 2004; Sison, 2005; Sorongon, 2009; and Valenzuela, 2010.
Except Peralta who was solicitor general before her CA appointment, the six other nominees were prosecutors or trial court judges.