22 official candidates for Chief Justice

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) released Friday, July 6, the official list of candidates for the next chief justice of the Supreme Court.

The list includes the names of 22 nominees submitted to JBC from June 2 to July 2.

The names are as follows:

1. Antonio T. Carpio
2. Presbitero J. Velasco Jr.
3. Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro
4. Arturo D. Brion
5. Roberto A. Abad
6. Andres D. Bautista
7. Soledad M. Cagampang-de Castro
8. Leila M. de Lima
9. Jose Manuel I. Diokno
10. Teresita J. Herbosa
11. Francis H. Jardeleza
12. Maria Carolina Katrina T. Legarda
13. Rafael A. Morales
14. Raul C. Pangalangan
15. Rufus B. Rodriguez
16. Rene V. Sarmiento
17. Maria Lourdes P. Sereno
18. Manuel DJ. Siayngco Jr.
19. Amado D. Valdez
20. Vicente R. Velasquez
21. Cesar Villanueva
22. Ronaldo B. Zamora

Out of the 22 nominees, 6 are Supreme Court insiders:

• Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio
• Associate Justice Brion
• Associate Justice Abad
• Associate Justice Sereno
• Associate Justice Velasco
• Associate Justice de Castro

Some of the other nominees are government officials, with 5 appointed by President Benigno Aquino III:

• Justice Secretary Leila de Lima
• Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza
• Governance Commissions for GOCCs (Government-owned and controlled corporations sector) head Cesar Villanueva
• Presidential Commission on Good Government chairman Andres Bautista
• Securities and Exchange Commission head Teresita Herbosa

The initial number of nominees swelled up to 72. Those who are not on the official list either turned down their nominations or were disqualified by the JBC.

The JBC is the body that screens and vets nominees for vacant judicial posts. It will interview the chief justice candidates from July 24 to 26, then submit a shortlist of the 3 most qualified names to Aquino.

The interviews will be made public, a first in the JBC’s history. It has drafted guidelines for live coverage, but has yet to finalize them.

The President has until August 29 to appoint the replacement of dismissed chief justice Renato Corona.

Corona was found guilty by the impeachment court of violating the Constitution and betraying public trust for failing to declare P183 million in peso and dollar bank accounts in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth. – Rappler.com

Erratum: This story earlier said there were 26 candidates. We apologize for the error.

Click on the links below for more. 

• JBC to interview CJ candidates starting July 24
• 25 accept nominations for chief justice
• Questions for chief justice candidates
• JBC should review process of choosing CJ
• Besides JBC, Palace has judicial search committee
• CONVERSATIONS: How should the JBC choose the next chief justice? #SCWatch