MANILA, Philippines - The controversy spun by the proposal for the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to draw up this early the shortlist for Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s successor has become too hot to handle for some of the potential nominees.

Following the steps of a colleague, another senior justice has begged off from being nominated in the race for Chief Justice.

Justice Eduardo Nachura has informed the JBC, the body that screens nominees to the judiciary and the office of the Ombudsman, that he is declining a possible nomination for Puno’s replacement when he retires on May 17.

JBC member and Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera told justice reporters that Nachura wanted to give way to the top two most senior justices---Antonio Carpio and Renato Corona.

Earlier, Justice Presbitero Velasco also declined to be nominated, saying the shortlist should be limited to the top 3 most senior justices. Nachura and Velasco are fourth and fifth in seniority in the SC.

Usually, the top five most senior justices automatically get nominated for the Chief Justice position.

Nachura and Velasco deftly avoided touching the issue on whether the JBC should start the nomination process.

Morales to accept if....

Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, who is third in seniority in the SC, said she would accept the nomination provided that it will be the next President who will make the appointment.

In indicating her condition for nomination, Carpio-Morales also expressed the view that the ban on appointment is absolute.

The JBC has begun the nomination and appointment process for the next Chief Justice, a move that has drawn criticism from the legal community.

Quezon City Rep. and JBC member Matias Defensor, who made the proposal, had said that a regular Chief Justice appointed by the President could help avert a constitutional crisis in case of a massive failure of elections where no President, Vice President, Senate President and House Speaker get to assume office on June 30.

Defensor’s proposal, however, clashes with the Constitutional provision barring the President from making appointments two months before an election and until her terms ends in June 30. Puno’s retirement falls within the period of the ban on appointments.

Political insurance

Critics have said the early nomination process is meant to avoid the ban on appointments and allow President Arroyo to appoint a friendlier Chief Justice, who will help protect her after she steps down from office.  She is expected to face corruption cases after June 30.
 
While the JBC has started the process, it has yet to decide when to submit its shortlist to the President. The JBC said it would invite legal experts to shed light on the issue.

Carpio and Corona have yet to issue their respective positions on the legal controversy. They have also not indicated any sign that they are accepting or rejecting their nominations from the JBC.

Abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak contacted the justices’ offices, but their respective staff said there is no word yet from the magistrates.

But Devanadera said that "by tradition, they’re (Carpio and Corona) considered applicants already.”  She added: "If there is no word they're not declining, they're already considered."

Meanwhile, sources in the legal community said Puno would first get the consensus of the SC before he takes a position on the controversial issue. 

Puno is also the ex-officio chair of the JBC.