The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) voted Monday for four nominees to replace outgoing Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno which they will submit to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Tuesday, May 5.

The four are Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justices Renato C. Corona, Teresita Leonardo De Castro, and Arturo D. Brion, and acting Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Edilberto G. Sandoval. All of them appeared during the public interview for Chief Justice aspirants conducted by the eight-member JBC in Baguio City last April 19.

Court Administrator and SC Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said Justices Corona, De Castro, and Brion all got eight votes each from the JBC while Justice Sandoval received seven votes during its special meeting Monday.

“The JBC has decided to submit the shortlist on May 5, that’s Wednesday. It has also decided to submit all four nominees who appeared in the interview,” Marquez told a press conference held at the SC building on Padre Faura, Manila.

Marquez said that once the shortlist is submitted to Malacañang, it would be up to Mrs. Arroyo whether she will appoint a new Chief Justice or not.

“The court already recognized the authority of the incumbent President to appoint the new Chief Justice. It will now be up to the President whether or not to exercise that power,” he said.

However, Marquez clarified that the President can only appoint a new Chief Justice after Puno’s retirement.

The court spokesman rejected the reported plan by Mrs. Arroyo to appoint Puno’s successor on May 10, as stated earlier by Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar.

“I don’t see how one can be appointed if someone is still occupying the position. There can be no appointment until the position becomes vacant,” Marquez said.

He added: “I do not know the basis of the presidential spokesman, we leave it to them. But we cannot have two Chief Justices at the same time.”

Marquez said the JBC will submit the shortlist on May 5 to give the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) the opportunity to file its second motion for reconsideration of the SC decision declaring that President Arroyo has the authority to appoint Puno’s successor.

The PBA was among the lawyers’ organizations that asked the High Court to stop the JBC from submitting its shortlist to Mrs. Arroyo in view of the constitutional ban on midnight appointments, which started last March 10 and will end on June 30.

But in its March 17 decision, the SC voted 9-1, with three justices inhibiting and two others saying the case was premature, to declare that appointments to the SC are not covered by the election ban. The 15-member tribunal reiterated its ruling on April 20 when it denied all motions for reconsideration filed in the case.

The JBC is composed of Chief Justice Puno as ex-officio chairman, and Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, Senator Francis Escudero, and Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor as ex-officio members.

It also has four regular members, namely: retired SC Justice Regino Hermosisima Jr.; Dean Amado Dimayuga, who represents the academe; Justice Aurora Santiago Lagman, representing the private sector; and Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) representative Atty. J. Conrado P. Castro.