WILL Filipino-Muslims now get a representation in the Supreme Court (SC) under the Duterte administration?
This question has cropped up anew after the six-man Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Monday released its shortlist of nominees for the SC post vacated by Associate Justice Samuel R. Martires following his appointment as Ombudsman in July.
Topping the shortlist are Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justices Japar Dimaampao and Ramon Garcia who both got six votes from the JBC.
The JBC is tasked under the Constitution to screen nominees for vacancies in the Judiciary and submit a shortlist of nominees to the President.
Dimaampao, who hails from Marawi City, is the only Muslim vying for the SC post.
It has been more than 20 years when Associate Justice Abdulwahid Bidin, the first Muslim who was appointed to the SC, retired from his post. Bidin was appointed to the SC during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.
The 55-year-old Dimaampao had been nominated several times for previous SC vacancies but failed to get the approval of past presidents.
Last year Dimaampao was shortlisted by the JBC for the post vacated by Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes, who retired at the mandatory age of 70 on July 6, 2017.
He, however, he failed to get the nod of President Duterte.
In 2009 Dimaampao was nominated for the post vacated by now retired Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna with the support of former Chief Justice Hilario Davide and various Muslim groups and leaders.
The Muslim leaders then reminded the JBC of the policy under the Tripoli Agreement, the 1996 peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Republic Act 9054, or An Act to Strengthen and Expand the Organic Act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), to accord qualified Muslims an equal opportunity to serve in key government positions, such as one justice in the SC and two CA justices.
Aside from Garcia and Dimaampao, also included in the shortlist were CA Associate Justices Manuel Barrios, Apolinario Bruselas Jr. and Rosmari Carandang, who all got five votes; Egardo de los Santos, Ramon Paul Hernando, Amy Lazaro-Javier and Marquez, who all got four votes.
Duterte is also set to appoint another justice for the associate justice post left vacant by the appointment of Teresita Leonardo de Castro as the new Chief Justice following the ouster of Maria Lourdes A. Sereno.
De Castro is set to retire on October 6 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
The JBC has already opened the application and nomination for De Castro’s post.