MANILA — The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has scheduled for Wednesday the panel interview of the nine candidates vying for the Ombudsman post that is set to be vacated by Conchita Carpio-Morales on July 26.
Morales, 76, is a retired SC Associate Justice who was appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III as Ombudsman in 2011.
The country’s top graft buster is also the sister of lawyer Lucas Carpio Jr., husband of retired Court of Appeals (CA) associate justice, Agnes Reyes-Carpio.
Lucas and Agnes are the parents of lawyer Mans Carpio, husband of President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
According to an announcement released by Supreme Court (SC) Clerk of Court and JBC ex-officio secretary Edgar Aricheta, the nine applicants — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, SC Associate Justice Samuel Martires, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Efren dela Cruz, Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval and lawyers Edna Herrera-Batacan, Rey Nathaniel Ifurung, Rainier Madrid, Felito Ramirez and Rex Rico — will be put under questioning by the screening body starting 9 a.m. on June 20.
Bello will be the first to be interviewed in the morning, followed by dela Cruz and lawyers Herrera-Batacan, Ifurung, and Madrid, while Martires, who retires from the high tribunal in January next year, is slated to be interviewed first in the afternoon and will be followed by Ramirez, Rico, and Sandoval.
Another candidate, Davao Judge Carlos Espero II, will no longer be interviewed on Wednesday since his interview for the SC associate justice post which he also applied for, will be considered valid for his application as Ombudsman, the announcement said.
Sworn complaints, reports or oppositions against any of the candidates from the public could be personally delivered or mailed to the JBC in the Centennial Building of the SC in Padre Faura St., Manila.
All applicants will be screened by the JBC and the shortlist will be submitted to the President.
The JBC is constitutionally mandated to screen and vet nominees to the President for vacant posts in the judiciary and the offices of the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman. It consists of seven members — the SC Chief Justice, the Justice Secretary and a representative of Congress as ex-officio members; and a representative each from retired SC justices, the academe, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and the private sector as regular members.
It is chaired by Senior Associate Justice and now acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, with ex-officio members Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Senator Richard Gordon, and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali.
Its regular members are retired SC Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza, representing the justices and chairperson of the JBC Executive Committee; lawyer Jose Mejia, representing the academe; lawyer Milagros Fernan-Cayosa, representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; and retired Judge Toribio Ilao, representing the private sector. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan with reports from Rachel Banares, OJT/PNA)
