The extended deadline for submission of application and nomination for the successor of Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin ends today, Sept. 2.
The Judicial and Bar Council has until 4:30 p.m. today to receive the application and nomination of those aspiring to be the next chief justice, the most coveted post in the judiciary, which will be left vacant when Bersamin reaches his mandatory retirement age of 70 on Oct. 18.
An applicant or nominee for Chief Justice must be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years old, has been a trial court judge for 15 years or more or engaged in the practice of law for the same period, and “must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.”
Today’s deadline was an extension of the original Aug. 20 deadline set by the JBC, the constitutional body mandated to accept, screen, and nominates appointments to the judiciary.
Based on the Aug. 20 deadline, four Supreme Court associate justices are considered candidates for the judiciary’s top post, namely: Supreme Court Associate Justices Diosdado M. Peralta, Estela M. Perlas Bernabe, Andres B. Reyes Jr., and Jose C. Reyes Jr.
JBC rules provide that council has to name at least three nominees for submission to President Duterte, who, under the Constitution, has 90 days from October 18 within which to appoint Bersamin’s successor.
The SC, as a full court, had nominated the five most senior associate justices to the post. They are Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio and Associate Justices Peralta, Bernabe, Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen, and Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa.
While Associate Justice Francis H. Jardeleza is more senior than Caguioa in the current lineup, the former was not automatically nominated because he is compulsory retiring on September 26.
Carpio, who is retiring on October 26, Leonen and Caguioa have declined their nominations.
In the case of Associate Justice Andres B. Reyes Jr., he was nominated by retired SC Associate Justice Jose P. Perez and former Court of Appeals Associate Justice Sesinando Villon.
It was not known immediately who nominated Associate Justice Jose C Reyes Jr.