JBC opens nominations for Puno's replacement

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 03:34 PM qctoday

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) opened on Monday nominations for the replacement of Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, who on May 17 will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 for members of the judiciary.

The eight-member JBC, which screens nominees to vacant judicial posts, has voted to open nominations for Puno's replacement. The selection process will start this week, so that members may soon deliberate on the list of candidates. The deadline for applications and recommendations for the Chief Justice (CJ) position is set on February 4, Business World Online reported.

'Midnight appointments'

GMANews.TV reported that militant lawmakers on Tuesday proposed House Bill 7109 seeking to prohibit Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from making "midnight appointments." Bayan Muna Representatives Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casino and Neri Comenares cited Section 15, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, which prohibits the President from making appointments starting two months before the next presidential elections (May 10) until the end of her term. The only appointments the chief executive is allowed to make will be temporary ones to executive positions, when continued vacancies will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.

Meanwhile, a total of 30 faculty members of the University of the Philippines' Faculty of Law (UP Law) on Monday said in a statement that “The retirement of Chief Justice Puno, on the eve of May 17, 2010, is well within the period of the constitutional ban on appointment."

The faculty members urged the JBC to defer from submitting the list of nominees for the position until after a new president assumes office. The JBC will enlist the assistance of experts who will determine the legal implications- if any- of submitting a shortlist before March 10, the start of the election ban on appointments, GMANews.TV reported.

During a debate on January 14, Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino said that he would not recognize the next CJ appointed by the outgoing president, as it would be "contrary to the constitutional ban on appointments during the wee hours of her presidency, and contrary to...prohibition against appointments two months before the outgoing President's term expires."

Puno was appointed in 1993 during the Ramos administration, and is the only remaining non-Arroyo appointee in the 15-member High Court.

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