Disqualified SC nominee appeals JBC ruling

MANILA, Philippines – Following his exclusion from the Judicial and Bar Council’s nominees for a soon-to-be vacated Supreme Court (SC) position, lawyer Rodolfo Robles on Tuesday contested the decision as he insisted that he is qualified for the post. In a four page-letter addressed to SC Chief Justice and JBC ex-officio chair Reynato Puno, Robles said the JBC rule barring him from being nominated to the High Court serves only as the bar council’s guideline and is not a Constitutional mandate. Robles was among the 14 candidates considered to replace the post to be vacated by Associate Justice Ruben Reyes who will bow out of service in January 2009. However, Robles was disqualified on Monday because of JBC’s rule which states that Supreme Court nominees must serve at least five years before reaching the mandatory age requirement age of 70. Robles, who is 65 years old and four months, is five months short of the requirement. Robles stressed the said rule is not stated under the 1987 Constitution. Section 7, Article VIII of the Constitution only states that “no person shall be appointed to the Supreme Court…unless he is a natural born citizen of the Philippines . A member of the Supreme Court must be of at least forty years of age, and must have been for fifteen years or more a judge of a lower court or engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines." Robles then cited a Supreme Court ruling that dismissed as unconstitutional the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution No. 6486 which implemented drug-testing among senatorial candidates. The Supreme Court in November 2008 ruled that the resolution violates the Constitution because it “adds another layer to what the 1987 Constitution, at the minimum, requires for membership in the Senate." Robles argued that the JBC’s age-limit rule is not a ground for disqualification in the same light that drug-testing is not a requirement for senatorial candidacy. Aside from Robles, also dropped from the SC race were Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera and former Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Jose Mario Buñag. The two were disqualified because of pending cases. Robles, Devanadera, and Buñag’s exclusion trims the JBC’s shortlist to 11. - Sophia Dedace with Carlo Lorenzo, GMANews.TV