With finality, the Supreme Court (SC) en banc has declared unconstitutional the power of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to clip the authority of the President of the Philippines in making appointments to the judiciary. In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, the full court voided the council’s “clustering” of the shortlist of nominees for all positions in the judiciary. The clustering of the shortlist of nominees was introduced during Sereno’s incumbency where the council selects and separates the names of candidates as they please. The SC held that the appointing powers of the President is plenary and cannot be clipped or limited by the JBC by implementing the “clustering” scheme. In the petition, the IBP said then-President Benigno Aquino 3rd violated the constitutional rule in handpicking Econg and Musngi from the same shortlist submitted by the JBC.

Source: Manila Times March 08, 2017 14:07 UTC