“There's a letter from a certain lawyer Hans Santos [who requested to extend the nomination deadline]. Sabi niya to give more chances and to have wider array of choices,” Mejia explained in a separate interview with reporters on Monday.

 

JBC ex-officio member Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said in a chance interview on Monday that the "long list" will be released on July 7, five days after the new deadline for nomination.

 

The long list gathers the names of the candidates who applied for or were recommended by someone else to the chief justice position. The JBC is mandated to publish the long list.
 

JBC okays live coverage for transparency

 

Escudero likewise revealed that the JBC has allowed the interviews of nominees to be broadcast live by the media. However the council has yet to decide whether to air the voting and deliberation of the JBC members.

 

“We will already be opening it [candidates’ panel interview] to the public and we will allow live coverage. However it will be subject to guidelines that the JBC will issue later on,” JBC member Maria Milagros Fernan-Cayosa said in an interview on Monday.

 

Cayosa explained that the council deleted a provision in Resolution No. JBC-009 Rule X, which prohibits media coverage in the panel interviews.

 

JBC’s executive committee will discuss the guidelines for media coverage on Thursday, June 21, Escudero added.

 

Mejia noted that Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan were among those who requested for the nomination’s live media coverage.

 

“I think there has always been a formal request. In the past, it was not favorably acted upon. So now that it was reiterated, the decision was to allow the live coverage,” Mejia said, citing that the council’s decision was in answer to the "clamor for transparency."

The process

 

After publishing the long list, the JBC will entertain any opposition on the nominees’ candidacy within 10 days. Subsequently, the council will make "discreet" background checks of the nominees. 

 

Then the JBC will publish a "shorter list" of candidates for interview.

 

The council will then come up with a “shortlist” of at least three nominees, which will be submitted to the President for appointment.

"[JBC] has moved its timeline to vote for the shortlist of nominees it will submit to the President from July 16 to July 30," acting spokesperson Ma. Victoria Gleoresty Guerra said in a press briefing on Monday.
 

The President has 90 days to appoint the next chief justice.

 

The JBC is composed of the chief justice as its chairman, three ex-officio members, and four regular members.

 

Currently, acting Chief Justice Carpio sits as the chairman, while the ex-officio members include Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, Senator Escudero, and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr.

 

The regular members include: former SC Justice Regino Hermosisima Jr., Mejia (representing the academe), Aurora Santiago (representing the private sector), and Maria Milagros Fernan-Cayosa (representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines). –KG, GMA News