17 aspire for SC associate justice post to be vacant on June 4
There are 17 aspirants to the Supreme Court’s (SC) associate justice post that would be vacant on June 4 with the compulsory retirement of Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez.
Whoever will be appointed from at least three nominees to be submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) would be President Marcos’ first appointee to the 15-member SC, the highest court of the land.
In line with its rules, the JBC – the constitutional office that accepts, screens and nominates appointments in the judiciary – has scheduled public interviews of the aspirants.
There are nine aspirants from the Court of Appeals (CA) – Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Associate Justices Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela, Ramon M. Bato Jr., Carlito B. Calpatura, Ramon A. Cruz, Maria Elisa S. Diy, Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez, Ronaldo Roberto B. Martin, and Walter S. Ong.
Aspirants from the Sandiganbayan are Associate Justices Karl B. Miranda and Ronald B. Moreno, while Associate Justice Maria Rowena M. San Pedro is the aspirant from the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).
The other aspirants are University of the Philippines College of Law Dean Darlene Marie B. Berberabe, private law practitioner who previously worked with Department of Finance Maria Rosario de Leon, University of Asia and the Pacific Institute of Law Dean Maria Concepcion S. Noche, diplomat and former Department of Justice Undersecretary Manuel Antonio J. Teehankee, and SC Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva.
The JBC will interview Antonio-Valenzuela, Bato, Berberabe, Bernardo, and Calpatura on May 14; Cruz, Diy, Garcia-Fernandez, and Lampas Peralta on May 15; Martin, Miranda, Moreno and Noche on May 16; and Ong, San Pedro, Teehankee, and Villanueva on May 21.
In an announcement issued by Clerk of Court Marife M. Lomibao-Cuevas, also ex-officio secretary of JBC, the council said:
“The public may submit a sworn complaint, report, or opposition against any of the candidates by mail or personal submission in three legible copies to the JBC, 2nd floor, SC-CA building, Maria Orosa Street, Ermita, Manila, or by electronic mail to [email protected] not later tan 4:30 p.m. on May 9.”