JBC names 8 nominees to SC justice post to be vacated Jan. 9
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has named eight nominees to a Supreme Court (SC) associate justice post which would be vacated on Jan. 9, 2022 with the compulsory retirement of Associate Justice Rosmari D. Carandang.
Nominated, in alphabetical order, were Michael G. Aguinaldo, chair of the Commission on Audit; Court of Appeals Associate Justice Apolinario D. Bruselas Jr.; Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje Tang; CA Associate Justice Ramon A. Cruz; Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Geraldine Faith A. Econg; Commissioner Antonio T. Kho Jr. of the Commission on Elections; CA Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh; and Deputy Court Administrator and Officer-in-Charge Raul B. Villanueva of the Office of the Court Administrator.
The list of nominees was submitted by the JBC to President Duterte in a letter dated last Dec. 17.
Under the Constitution, the President has 90 days from Jan. 9, 2022 to appoint Carandang’s replacement from the nominees submitted by the JBC – the constitutional office that accepts, screens and nominates appointments in the judiciary.
On May 14, 2022, there will be another vacancy in the 15-member SC with the compulsory retirement of Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas Bernabe.
The JBC is headed by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo. The other members are Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra, SC retired Associate Justices Jose Catral Mendoza and Noel Gimenez Tijam, Sen. Richard J. Gordon, Toribio E. Ilao Jr., and Franklin J. Demonteverde.