MANILA, Philippines – Court Administrator Midas Marquez is up for the position of a Supreme Court (SC) justice for the third time, with Court of Appeals (CA) justices and a Davao judge also vying for the vacancy that will be created when Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr retires.

Velasco will retire on August 8.

Marquez will no longer undergo a public interview by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) because his last interview is still valid.  Marquez was bypassed twice for vacancies which were given to Associate Justices Andres Reyes Jr and Alexander Gesmundo.

The JBC will interview on June 14 the following:

1. CA Associate Justice Oscar Badelles
2. CA Associate Justice Ramon Garcia
3. CA Associate Justice Manuel Barrios
4. CA Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier
5. Davao Judge Carlos Espero II
6. Former Ateneo Law School dean Cesar Villanueva
   

Espero has also applied for the post of Ombudsman.

Aside from Marquez, the following nominees to the post will no longer undergo public interviews as well:

1. CA Associate Justice Ramon Bato
2. CA Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando
3. CA Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas
4. CA Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang
5. CA Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr

In his last interview, Marquez said the hero’s burial accorded the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos was a sound decision, and that Congress did not need to convene on President Rodrigo Duterte’s martial law declaration in Mindanao.

Bato said in his last interview that there is no provision in the Constitution prohibiting same sex marriage, and that divorce is not a viable option for now.

Hernando expressed “personal reservations” about the Court’s bail grant to former senator Juan Ponce Enrile. He said humanitarian considerations were not cited in the rules of criminal procedure and the SC may not have been accurate in its ruling.

Carandang had the same stance on the Enrile bail as Hernando. She said the hero’s burial for Marcos should not have been allowed on a “moral ground.”

Reyes was neutral when he was asked about Duterte’s martial law in Mindanao. (You can read a summary of their past interviews here.)

Bato, Bruselas, Carandang, Hernando, Reyes and Lazaro-Javier have repeatedly applied for the recent vacancies, but were bypassed by Duterte in his last appointments.

Velasco will not be the last to leave the Court. Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro will retire in October, while Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Noel Tijam will both retire in January 2019. – Rappler.com