Palace exec: SolGen Jardeleza ‘very’ qualified for SC justice post 

 News
Mar 212014
 
While saying the decision is up to the Judicial and Bar Council, a Malacañang official on Friday said Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza is “very qualified” for the soon-to-be vacated post of Supreme Court Associate Justice Roberto Abad.

“He’s very qualified. His years in practice as a private practitioner and also now as Solicitor General, and previously as Deputy Ombudsman… his record speaks for itself,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at a press conference in Malacañang.

Jardeleza is among the 14 candidates vying for the post of Abad, who will retire in May.

Lacierda said he can vouch for Jardeleza since they have “worked more directly” with him as the lawyer of the executive branch.

Earlier, however, the Palace official said Commission on Audit chairperson Grace Pulido Tan is also competent enough to vie for the post.

“With respect to Chairman Grace Tan, again, her record also speaks for itself,” he said on Friday.

But Lacierda quickly noted that they will just wait for the decision of the JBC.

“Labas kami diyan sa pagpili kasi nasa JBC pa… they will still whittle down the list to a certain number,” he said.

“The President normally keeps a distance until such time that the final list is submitted to him… he takes time to sit down with the nominees and interview them and assess and guage those in the list,” he added.

The JBC is the body constitutionally mandated to create a shortlist of nominees for vacant posts in the judiciary, the Office of the Ombudsman, and Deputy Ombudsman.

The nominee that President Benigno Aquino III will eventually choose to replace Abad will be his fifth appointee to the 15-member Supreme Court. The rest are appointees of his predecessor, former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. — LBG, GMA News

SC allows Sharia consultant for JBC

 News
Aug 092013
 
SC allows Sharia consultant for JBC

The Supreme Court has agreed to the appointment of a Sharia consultant for the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the body tasked to screen and vet nominees for vacant judicial posts. In a one-page resolution, the high court sitting en banc approved a letter made by one of its members, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, requesting that a jurisconsult in Islamic Law be tapped for the JBC. “The Court Resolved to Approve in principle the appointment of a Shari’a consultant for the JBC and a Jurisconsult in Islamic Law,” the SC said in its resolution. Court Administrator Midas Marquez was tasked to recommend within 30 days an Islamic law expert who could take on the role as Sharia consultant. Currently, the JBC has two consultants: SC Senior Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Presbitero Velasco Jr. So far, there are only two high ranking Muslim magistrates in the Philippine judiciary, namely Court of Appeals Justices Japar Dimaampao and Hakim Abdulwahid. In his four-page letter addressed to the en banc, Leonen emphasized the importance of putting a Sharia consult for the JBC. “I have been informed that despite the presence of so many qualified experts on Shari’a Law, the court still does not have a Shari’a consultant for the JBC nor a jurisconsult. May I respectfully suggest that the Secretariat of the JBC and the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) be tasked immediately to look into this matter,” Leonen said. Leonen said that under Article VIII of Republic Act 9054 or “An Read More …

JBC member: 6 candidates vying for Overall Deputy Ombudsman post

 News
Jul 122013
 
JBC member: 6 candidates vying for Overall Deputy Ombudsman post

Six candidates, including former and current “insiders” as well as the former head of the Comelec’s legal department, are applying for the Overall Deputy Ombudsman post, which will be vacated after the compulsory retirement of Orlando Casimiro on August 23. Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) member Jose Mejia said, those vying for the post include former Assistant Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang and incumbent Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon officer-in-charge Rudiger Falcis II. Carandang was appointed Assistant Ombudsman during the tenure of former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo, while Falcis is the incumbent officer-in-charge of the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military, he said. Also seeking the post is the former chief of the Commission on Elections legal department, Ferdinand Rafanan. He is currently the poll body’s director for planning. The rest of the applicants are Undersecretary Ronaldo Geron of the Malacañang Discipline Office, private lawyer Vernard Quijano of the Pamaran Ramos and Partners law office, and George Soriano, chairman of the Quezon City People’s Law Enforcement Board, Mejia said. Also, the JBC said the applicants have until July 17 to submit documentary requirements, while their public interviews are set for July 31. The JBC is constitutionally mandated to screen and vet nominees for vacant posts in the judiciary and the Offices of the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman. For a vacant post in those government bodies, the seven-member JBC is tasked to come up with a shortlist from which the President will pick an appointee. Casimiro had been the subject of an Read More …

JBC wraps up interviews for Sandiganbayan top post; lawyer disqualified

 News
Jun 212013
 
JBC wraps up interviews for Sandiganbayan top post; lawyer disqualified

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Friday concluded its two-day public interviews of the second and final batch of candidates for the vacated Sandiganbayan presiding justice post. The conclusion of the interviews came with the “disqualification” of one of the 10 candidates—Jasper Lucero, a private lawyer—for failing to submit necessary documents needed before the interview. The last two candidates to face the JBC panel were a Sandiganbayan justice who wants closed-circuit television cameras during anti-graft trials, and a Justice undersecretary who had previously applied in other plum judicial posts. During his interview, Justice Alex Quiroz said it was his “dream” to have Sandiganbayan proceedings open to the public through CCTV cameras and the internet. “I have a dream should I be appointed. Since criminal proceedings in open court should be in public, it is my wish that a court be covered by a CCTV [camera] and the same would be connected to the Internet,” he told the panel, led by JBC chair Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. He also said he wanted to cut down the Sandiganbayan’s use of paper by 30 percent in a bid to turn it into a “paperless” anti-graft court. “I’ve been with the prosecution. Now, I’m in the judiciary so I’ve seen all those aspects,” said Quiroz, the fifth most junior member of the Sandiganbayan. “I don’t think there is any applicant (who) possesses such credentials as being a prosecutor, being at the Office of the Solicitor General, then judiciary,” added the 55-year-old Quiroz. Read More …

Two justices embroiled in controversies face JBC for top Sandiganbayan post

 News
Jun 202013
 
Two justices embroiled in controversies face JBC for top Sandiganbayan post

Two Sandiganbayan justices who have been embroiled in controversies—one for a widely publicized case and the other in a citizenship row—on Friday faced the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) for their bid to become the next highest official of the anti-graft court. During her interview, Sandiganbayan Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos of the Second Division stood by her controversial decision to approve the plea bargain agreement of retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, saying it was better than having him acquitted. Garcia was accused of pocketing P303 million while still in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. On March 16, 2010, the Sandiganbayan approved the Ombudsman’s request for Garcia to enter into a plea bargaining agreement that would allow Garcia to plead guilty to two lesser offenses, return around half of what he allegedly stole from government coffers, and post bail. In her JBC interview, Baldos said she thinks the government should be more careful in releasing to the public copies of statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth, saying these can be used to harrass public officials. “There should be guidance in maintaining the confidentiality of these public documents,” Baldos stressed. Citizenship controversy Next to be interviewed was Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Gregory Ong, who earlier became the subject of a citizenship controversy, with Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio questioning Ong’s Filipino citizenship before the Supreme Court due to his Chinese roots. Ong was originally appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, but his appointment was rejected by Read More …

A year later, Congress still undecided on who should be sent to JBC

 News
Jun 202013
 
A year later, Congress still undecided on who should be sent to JBC

Congress has yet to decide on who between Sen. Francis Escudero and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. would represent the legislative branch in the Judicial and Bar Council. The impasse remains almost one year after the Supreme Court has ruled with finality that only one representative, and not two as traditionally observed, should represent Congress in the JBC. Neither Tupaz nor Escudero showed up during Thursday’s JBC interviews of candidates for the vacant presiding justice post at the Sandiganbayan. “They have not resolved with definitiveness as to who will represent. Kasi in accordance with the SC decision which has become final and executory, there will only be one who should represent Congress,” said lawyer Jose Mejia, JBC regular member for the academe. Mejia, however, added that he received information that Tupas and Escudero are already “working it out… to resolve the matter sooner or later.” Asked if the JBC could intervene in deciding who should represent Congress, Mejia said: “It would have to be between them. They should decide themselves.” Mejia said that as a result of the SC ruling, the required majority votes for a candidate to qualify on a JBC shortlist went down from five to four. Mejia said even without a Congress representative, the JBC can still proceed with voting, so long as there is a quorum and the members can muster a majority of four votes. The Supreme Court in July 17 last year sided with a petition by former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez, who questioned Read More …