7 CA justices in shortlist for SC associate justice

By Vann Marlo M. Villegas
SEVEN Court of Appeals justices are included in the shortlist for the associate justice post in the Supreme Court vacated by now-retired chief justice Teresita J. Leonardo-Castro, Justice Secretary and Judicial and Bar Council ex-officio member Menardo I. Guevarra said.
Garnering six votes, Court of Appeals (CA) justices Manuel M. Barrios, Japar B. Dimaampao, Ramon D.R. Garcia, Apolinario D. Bruselas, Jr., and Edgardo L. Delos Santos are shortlisted.
CA justices Rosmari D. Carandang and Amy C. Lazaro-Javier were also in the shortlist with five votes.
The five shortlisted nominees were not publicly interviewed last Nov. 18 as their previous public interviews were still valid.
The position was vacated following Ms. De Castro’s appointment as chief justice last Aug. 25.
Other nominees who did not make it to the shortlist are CA Justices Oscar V. Badelles and Stephen C. Cruz, Sandiganbayan Judge Alex D.L. Quiroz, lawyer Rita Linda V. Jimeno, and former Ateneo Law dean Cesar L. Villanueva.
Six applicants are also scheduled for a public interview on Dec. 5 for the position to be vacated by Associate Justice Noel G. Tijam who will retire on Jan. 5, 2019.
Scheduled for that morning are CA justices Ramon A. Cruz, Eduardo B. Peralta, Jr., and Ricardo R. Rosario, and for the afternoon, CA justice Ramon M. Bato, Jr. and Sandiganbayan justices Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang and Efren N. de la Cruz.
Other candidates whose previous public interviews are still valid are Messrs. Barrios and Bruselas, Ms. Carandang, Messrs. Cruz, Delos Santos, Dimaampao, and Garcia, Mses. Jimeno, and Javier, Messrs. Quiroz and Villanueva, CA justice Mario V. Lopez, SC Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Tagum City judge Virginia D. Tehano-Ang.