In a chance interview with reporters Wednesday, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he personally disagrees with the high court’s interpretation of the constitutional provision which states that “a representative of Congress” will be an ex officio member of the council.

 

“It was at the very last moment that the Constitutional Commission shifted from single chamber legislature to two chambers. Obviously, that provision was intended for a single-chamber thing, but we now have two chambers,” Belmonte said.

 

“We will exhaust all remedies to see to it that the current situation which was logically and legally entered into and has been in use for many years continue,” he added.

 

On Tuesday, the SC announced that it had already voted on former Solicitor General Francisco “Frank” Chavez’s petition questioning the JBC’s composition. The results of the voting, however, were not immediately revealed.
 

But a Philippine Star report quoted “an SC insider” as saying that majority of the SC justices favored Chavez’s argument that the representatives of the Senate and of the House in the JBC should only be entitled to one vote.

As of posting time, GMA News Online could not independently confirm the Philippine Star report. Earlier, SC spokesperson Ma. Victoria Gleoresty Guerra said the results of the decision would be released Thursday. 

 

Before the SC’s ruling on Chavez’s petition, the Senate and the House vote in the JBC were counted separately.

 

The JBC is a seven-member body created by the 1987 Constitution to screen appointees to the SC and judges of the lower courts.

 

The council is currently in the process of screening candidates for SC chief justice, after former Chief Justice Renato Corona was removed from his post following an impeachment trial at the Senate. — RSJ, GMA News