THE seven-man Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) is set to deliberate today (Thursday) on the qualifications of the 22 applicants for the post in the Supreme Court (SC) that was left vacant following the promotion of then Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin as Chief Justice.
Bersamin was appointed Chief Justice on November last year following the retirement of Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo De Castro.
Among those aspiring for the position are Court of Appeals associate justices Oscar Badelles,Nina Antonio-Valenzuela, Ramon Bato Jr., Apolinario Bruselas Jr.,Ramon Cruz, Stephen Cruz, Edgardo de los Santos,J apar Dimaampao, Ramon Garcia, Henri Jean-Paul Inting, Amy Lazaro-Javier, Jhosep Lopez, Mario Lopez, Eduardo Peralta Jr.,and Ricardo Rosario.
Other applicants include Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Lanee Cui-David and Court of Tax Appeals (CTA)’s Roman del Rosario, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz.
SC Court Administrator Midas Marquez SC , former Ateneo Law School Dean Cesar Villanueva and private and law school professor Jeremy Gatdula are also vying for the post.
The JBC is tasked under the Constitution to screen nominees for posts in the judiciary and the Ombudsman and to come up with a shortlist of qualified applicants for consideration of the President.