President Arroyo is still studying a shortlist of candidates for a new Supreme Court justice following the retirement of Justice Leonardo Quisumbing, Malacañang said Friday.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Court of Appeals Associate Justice Martin Villarama and two others are among those recommended by the Judicial and Bar Council for the vacancy at the High Court.

“The JBC recommendations are now still being studied by the President so there is no new appointment made yet,” Remonde said in a press briefing in the Palace. He said the President has 30 days to fill in the vacancy at the 15-man Supreme Court.

Villarama, chairman of the CA’s 3rd Division, was reportedly the top pick of the Supreme Court as new member of the tribunal in a recent voting.

Sandiganbayan Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr. and lawyer Rodolfo Robles also got votes from the 13 SC justices who participated in the polls last September.

Villarama and Villaruz are included in the shortlist submitted by the JBC to the President. The JBC makes the official nominations for appointments to the judiciary as prescribed in the Constitution.

There will be another vacancy in the Supreme Court next month with the retirement of Justice Minita Chico Nazario. (Genalyn Kabiling)