By Benjamin Pulta/PNA
MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) will honor Associate Justice Noel Tijam in a retirement ceremony for him on Friday, a year and 10 months after he was appointed to the high tribunal by President Rodrigo Duterte in March last year.
Tijam will retire from the service as he turns 70 on Saturday.
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has submitted the names of 10 nominees to fill the vacancy after Tijam’s retirement. They are Court Administrator and spokesman Jose Midas P. Marquez, Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justices Manuel M. Barrios, Japar B. Dimaampao, Amy C. Lazaro Javier, Ramon A. Cruz, Ramon R. Garcia, Mario V. Lopez, and Apolinario D. Bruselas Jr.; Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje Tang; and former Ateneo de Manila University law dean Cesar L. Villanueva.
Malacañang has three months to name a replacement from the shortlist submitted by the JBC who would be Duterte’s 10th appointee to the SC.
Aside from Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, three more SC justices are set to retire this year — Associate Justices Mariano C. del Castillo on July 29 and Francis H. Jardeleza on September 26, and Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio on October 26.