THE Judicial and Bar Council has forwarded to President Rodrigo Duterte a shortlist of candidates for one of the two vacancies in the Supreme Court.
The JBC, concurrently chaired by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, voted for the inclusion in the shortlist of the following nominees: Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Andres Reyes and Associate Justices Jose Reyes, Apolinario Bruselas, Japar Dimaampao, and Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Samuel Martires for the first vacancy in the 15-member bench.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, II, an ex-officio member of the JBC, said the shortlist is for the position to be vacated by Associate Justice Jose Perez who will mandatory retire on December 14.
The post to be vacated by Perez will be the first of more than 10 to be appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the Supreme Court.
The JBC is scheduled to meet on December 9 to vote for another shortlist for the position to be vacated by Supreme Court Associate Justice Arturo Brion who will retire on December 29.
Under the Constitution, the President has 90 days from vacancy to choose from the short list of candidates provided by the JBC.