At least 17 candidates are in the running to fill the upcoming vacancy in the Supreme Court which will open on 4 June with the compulsory retirement of Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez.

The appointment will be President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first to the 15-member high court. The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will screen and shortlist at least three names for the President’s selection.

Nine of the contenders come from the Court of Appeals: Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Associate Justices Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela, Ramon M. Bato Jr., Carlito B. Calpatura, Ramon A. Cruz, Maria Elisa S. Diy, Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez, Ronaldo Roberto B. Martin and Walter S. Ong.

Peralta has served for 21 years, with 7,750 days on the bench as of April 2025. She was appointed in 2004 after 17 years with the Office of the Solicitor General.

A CPA, she holds degrees in business administration and law from the University of the East and San Beda College, respectively. She passed the 1985 Bar exams with an 86.40 percent rating and is married to former Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta.

Other CA justices in the running include Valenzuela (appointed in 2010), Bato (appointed in 2004), Cruz (appointed in 2009), Diy (11th Division chair), Calpatura, Fernandez (appointed 2010), Ronaldo Martin (appointed 2015), and Ong (appointed 2017).

Two candidates are from the Sandiganbayan: Associate Justices Karl B. Miranda and Ronald B. Moreno, while Associate Justice Maria Rowena M. San Pedro is from the Court of Tax Appeals.

Miranda, with degrees from Ateneo and UP Law, is a former Presiding Judge of the Sandiganbayan’s 3rd Division. Moreno, appointed in 2018, is a former Presiding Judge of Makati RTC.

San Pedro, with over 30 years in the judiciary, has served in various court roles and was named one of the Most Outstanding Judges in 2011.

Other aspirants include University of the Philippines College of Law Dean Darlene Marie B. Berberabe; Maria Rosario de Leon, a private law practitioner and former Department of Finance official; University of Asia and the Pacific Institute of Law Dean Maria Concepcion S. Noche; diplomat and former Justice Undersecretary Manuel Antonio J. Teehankee; and Supreme Court Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva.

Villanueva joined the judiciary in 2002 and Berberabea is an accomplished academic and top graduate.

Meanwhile Bernardo is a private law practitioner and former DoF official. Noche, an expert in Civil Procedure and Teehankee, a diplomat, former DoJ Undersecretary and WTO Chair.

The JBC will conduct public interviews on 14 May for Antonio-Valenzuela, Bato, Berberabe, Bernardo, and Calpatura; 15 May for Cruz, Diy, Garcia-Fernandez, and Lampas Peralta; 16 May for Martin, Miranda, Moreno, and Noche; and 21 May for Ong, San Pedro, Teehankee, and Villanueva.

In a notice issued by Clerk of Court Marife M. Lomibao-Cuevas, who also serves as the JBC’s ex-officio secretary, the public is invited to submit sworn reports, complaints, or oppositions to any of the nominees.