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Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Lobby for vacant SC post revs up
By Benjamin B. Pulta
LESS than a month before Malacanang's deadline to appoint its eighth man at the Supreme Court (SC), lawyers are wondering who will be President Arroyo’s appointee.
Seventeen candidates for the Supreme Court seat left vacant after the retirement of Associate Justice Josue Bellosillo are vying for the approval of the Judicial Bar Council (JBC) as one of five nominees to the vacancy.
Lobbying among the candidates is intense.
Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo reportedly attended the birthday celebration of Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr., the nominal head of the JBC, which submits nominees to an SC post to Malacañang.
It was reportedly the first time in eight years that Benipayo, a former SC court administrator, paid a courtesy call on Davide. They previously had a misunderstanding during the time of Davide's predecessor, retired Chief Justice Andres Narvasa.
Court Administrator Presbitero Velasco is also in the shortlist.
On Feb. 2, 2004, the JBC is expected to trim down the list to five nominees from which President Arroyo will choose Bellosillo’s replacement.
Aside from Benipayo and Velasco, those vying for the SC vacancy are five Court of Appeals justices, three Sandiganbayan justices, two from the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law and several controversial judges.
They are Judge Amelita de Guzman, the controversial judge who presided over the Vizconde multiple murder trial; Sandiganbayan Justices Minita Chico Nazario, Gregory Ong and Edilberto Sandoval; Court of Appeals Justices Cancio Garcia, Eugenio Labitoria, Portia Alino-Hormachuelos, Regalado Maambong, Delilah Vidallon Magtolis and Ruben Reyes, UP law school dean Raul Pangalangan; UP professor Ruben Balane; Philippine Star columnist Jose Sison; former Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) chairman Dario Rama, and Judge Godofredo Legaspi.
(January 13, 2004 issue)
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