Archive - The Corona Trial

By VERA Files PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino made history by appointing Lourdes Sereno as the country’s first female Chief Justice, but he also broke tradition by setting aside the seniority rule and naming to the highest judicial post one of the Court’s youngest associate justices, who also happens to be his college schoolmate.

By LALA ORDENES DURING the Judicial and Bar Council public interviews for the new Chief Justice, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Representative Maria Milagros N. Fernan-Cayosa remarked , “Everything I would have wanted to ask in order to get to know (Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno) better is contained in this paper.” Fernan-Cayosa was talking about Sereno’s position paper presented before the IBP in its public forum on July 20.

By LALA ORDENES THE Judicial and Bar Council has released the shortlist for the nominees to the highest judicial post in the land. Eight names, led by Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, made it to the list that will be submitted to the President.

By LALA ORDENES FEARING that Congress may be either underrepresented or overrepresented in the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) proceedings, the Supreme Court on Friday modified its July 17 decision limiting Congress to only one representation in the council that vets judicial nominees.

By LALA ORDENES CONGRESS is entitled to only one vote in the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC). In a 7-2 decision with five abstentions last week, the Supreme Court declared the current practice of allowing members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives to participate and vote in JBC’s proceedings unconstitutional.

By LALA ORDENES FORMER Solicitor General Frank Chavez, a nominee to the Chief Justice post vacated by impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, sent a letter (see below) to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) Friday questioning the composition of the council that vets and approves nominees to judicial posts.

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
WHILE almost every lawyer in town and a nurse want to be included in the list of candidates for the position of Supreme Court Justice, vacated by the recently convicted Renato Corona, it’s good to see two people declining.

By LALA ORDENES THE Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) in a historic move decided Monday to allow live coverage of the public interviews of candidates for judicial positions. This means that cameras and tape recorders are now allowed inside the room where the JBC panel interviews candidates for vacant posts in the judiciary and the office of the Ombudsman.

BY VERA FILES
Two decades after its creation by the Constitution, the Judicial and Bar Council remains an institution critics say is riddled with “systemic deficiencies” and even defects, and is badly in need of reforms.

By VERA FILES
The Judicial and Bar Council represents the first and crucial step in the judicial appointment process. Ultimately, however, the person responsible for appointments of all the country’s judges and justices is the President.

By VERA FILES
THE Judicial and Bar Council is now the focus of national attention as it begins the process of recommending a replacement for ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. The process, if done right, is expected to help restore public confidence in the High Tribunal.

By CAROLYN MERCADO and STEVEN ROOD
THE Philippine Judiciary is on edge. Five months of rigorous scrutiny by the public and media as a result of the trial of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona created a high degree of expectation that major reforms are forthcoming. Ensuring that Corona’s conviction and the appointment of a new chief justice will lead to a lasting improvement of the country’s judicial system is putting tremendous pressure on the high court.