According to a report on “24 Oras” aired Saturday, the president found out that one of the nominees for the position, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Bernelito Fernandez, was recommended to the position by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile in 2012.
Enrile is one of three senators charged with graft and plunder before the Sandiganbayan over their alleged participation in the Priority Development Assistance Fund.
According to the Palace, the president has asked the Judicial and Bar Council, which prepares a list of nominees for vacancies in the judiciary for additional information on the nominees.
The request was made because the president wants the appointee to be “beyond suspicion” especially since PDAF cases are already with the Sandiganbayan.
“Considering na sa Sandiganbayan po ‘yung puwestong pinag-uusapan natin, kung saan tumatayong akusado ‘yung nag-endorso sa kanya, siguro po malinaw naman ‘yung duty ng Executive na i-verify muna at i-clarify ‘yung katayuan; at kung meron pa hong similar cases that would apply to those in the shortlist, kung merong similar circumstances,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a briefing over government radio dzRB on Saturday.
Valte added: “We expect some movements in filling this particular position very soon.”
Judge Fernandez has confirmed that he asked for Enrile’s recommendation, but said that that was back in 2012.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is his principal endorser now, the “24 Oras” report said.
The report said Fernandez believes there is a demolition job against him.
Under the Constitution, the president is supposed to issue appointments within 90 days of the JBC’s submission of the list of nominees.
The JBC submitted its shortlist of nominees on February 28, giving the president until May 28 to pick an appointee.
Whomever the president appoints will fill the vacancy on the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division. That division will handle the cases filed against Senator Jinggoy Estrada and others accused in the PDAF scam. — JDS, GMA News
