Marcos set to name first Supreme Court appointee

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is poised to make his first appointment to the Supreme Court as the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Friday released its shortlist of nominees for the position of associate justice.

The vacancy stems from the upcoming compulsory retirement of Associate Justice Mario Lopez on 4 June 2025.

Among the 13 nominees is newly appointed Solicitor General Darlene Marie Berberabe, who has already taken her oath as the government’s top lawyer, replacing Menardo Guevarra. Berberabe, who also serves as Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, was included in the shortlist before her appointment as solicitor general was formalized.

Other nominees on the JBC shortlist include Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justices Nina Antonio-Valenzuela, Ramon Mariño Bato, Ramon Cruz, Maria Filomena Singh-Diy, Myra Garcia-Fernandez, Ronaldo Martin, and Walter Santos Ong; CA Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta; Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Karl Miranda; Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Associate Justice Maria San Pedro; and Court Administrator Raul Villanueva.

The interviews were conducted at the Supreme Court Session Hall from 14 to 16 May and 21 May. Members of the JBC who took part in the interviews were Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza, Professor Atty. Nesauro Firme, and former CTA Associate Justice Erlinda Piñera Uy.

President Marcos’s upcoming choice will mark his first appointment to the country’s highest court.

The current composition of the 15-member Supreme Court is largely made up of appointees from the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Two justices remain from the term of the late President Benigno Aquino III.