The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) Sunday announced the names of six official candidates that it will nominate to replace Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, who is retiring on May 17.

Those who made it to the official list of candidates were SC Associate Justices Antonio T. Carpio, Renato C. Corona, Conchita Carpio Morales, Teresita Leonardo de Castro and Arturo D. Brion, and acting Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Edilberto G. Sandoval.

Special Prosecutor Dennis M. Villa-Ignacio and Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Victor C. Fernandez were removed from the official list of contenders due to administrative cases pending against them before the Office of the Ombudsman, according to SC spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez.

Villa-Ignacio was nominated by former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo while Fernandez submitted an application. Both of them have signified their interest to be considered by the JBC provided that their names are submitted to the next President.

Under JBC rules, candidates facing administrative and criminal charges are disqualified for consideration to any judicial post, including the High Court.

Earlier, the JBC also eliminated another aspirant, former Malabon Judge Florentino Floro Jr., who, in 2006, was dismissed from the bench after he admitted consulting three “mystic dwarves” during healing sessions in his chambers.

In an announcement published in the newspapers, JBC ex-officio secretary and SC Clerk of Court Ma. Luisa Villarama called on the public to “submit sworn complaints, written report or opposition” against any of the six candidates not later than February 22.

Although Justices Carpio and Morales have also set a condition to the JBC that their nomination be submitted to the next President for appointment, the eight-member constitutional body still included their names in the list of candidates.

“Their names were included because the JBC has not decided yet whether or not to submit the shortlist to the President,” Marquez said.