JBC interviews start for next SC justice
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Wednesday began its first round of public interviews for candidates who hope to take the place of a Supreme Court Associate Justice set to retire in June.
The JBC heard from a mix of veteran and first-time applicants regarding their track records, depth of legal knowledge, and perceived “weaknesses.”
Despite lacking experience in litigation and other judicial functions, Darlene Berberabe, dean of the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law, said her “unique” background in the private and public sectors, as well as in the academe, would enable her to make meaningful contributions as a magistrate.
No court appearances
“I know that promoting [someone] from within has its advantages, they already know the system in place. However, I am also a believer in diversity of perspectives. Someone who has a background in the academe, someone who has a strong background as well in philosophy that can provide legal theory, contribute in the discussions of the associate justices,” Berberabe told the JBC panel which included Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
A Philosophy major, Berberabe graduated summa cum laude from UP and was the valedictorian of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy’s Class of 1989.
She became the college’s first female Philosophy instructor, teaching there for 10 years, before going to law school.
Remulla noted that throughout Berberabe’s 25-year legal career, she still had no court appearances. “Don’t you think you missed out on something that you should have learned also, in the sense that being a complete lawyer really requires you to get your feet in practice?” he asked the applicant.
The UP Law dean acknowledged the importance of litigation experience and that she “lacked in other things.” But she said she was able to move between jobs in different sectors even without prior experience, relying instead on her values and adaptability.
“I know I am not corrupt, I have integrity, I am hardworking,” Berberabe stressed. “So even if I don’t know much about the subject matter, I eat little so I’m not enticed by money. I thought that with my background in those three sectors, and now as dean of the UP College of Law and being involved in many activities and projects—I thought, though I’m really just mustering the courage—that I could meaningfully contribute to the Court with that background.”
2-time bar taker
Berberabe is one of 17 applicants, most of whom are incumbent Court of Appeals (CA) associate justices, seeking to take the place of Associate Justice Mario Lopez, who is set to retire in June.
The candidates are scheduled to undergo JBC public interviews from May 14 to May 21.
Whoever is chosen will become President Marcos’ first appointee to the high tribunal, which remains dominated by Duterte appointees. Only Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa were appointed by then President Benigno Aquino III.
Also interviewed on Wednesday was CA Associate Justice Nina Antonio-Valenzuela, who brings over three decades of experience in the judiciary.
She cited her 35-year career as proof of her “competence and diligence, as well as integrity.”
At one point, JBC member Nesauro Firme asked about the circumstances that made her take the bar exam twice.
“Every time I apply, this is asked,” Antonio-Valenzuela said. “Everything was smooth-sailing [in my life] until I flunked the bar and the stigma that comes with it should not be experienced by others.”
When asked by Remulla about the hardest court decision she ever wrote, Antonio-Valenzuela recounted a kidnapping case where she had to sentence a man to reclusion perpetua.
Dacer case handler
“All these decisions are hard. What makes them harder is the human factor that comes with it … That’s the dilemma of a judge, you convict them, they have families, wives and children crying in the courtroom, every time I promulgate a decision, that’s when (it becomes hard),” she said.
The third candidate interviewed on Wednesday was CA Associate Justice Ramon Bato Jr., a longtime aspirant to the Supreme Court.
Bato has spent 34 years in the judiciary—13 years in trial courts and 21 years in the CA. Among his high-profile cases were the double-murder charges against Sen. Panfilo Lacson over the deaths of Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.
JBC member Erlinda Pinera Uy noted that Bato submitted a handwritten exam for his application, prompting her to ask if he was computer literate.
“I am not fully literate but I can perhaps be trained. I use a laptop in preparing decisions,” Bato said.
Other candidates
Other contenders include CA Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta, who was appointed by Marcos in November 2024 following the retirement of then Presiding Justice Mariflor Punzalan Castillo.
Also in the running are CA Associate Justices Ramon Cruz, Myra Garcia Fernandez, Maria Elisa Sempio Diy, Ronaldo Roberto Martin, Walter Ong and Carlito Calpatura.
Candidates from other courts include Sandiganbayan Associate Justices Karl Miranda and Ronald Moreno, and Court of Tax Appeals Associate Justice Maria Rowena San Pedro.
Apart from Berberabe, the shortlist includes another academic: former University of Asia and the Pacific Law dean Maria Concepcion Noche.
Other aspirants are lawyer Maria Rosario Bernardo, diplomat and former Foreign Undersecretary Manuel Antonio Teehankee and current Court Administrator Raul Villanueva.
