MANILA, Philippines - Five Supreme Court associate justices, two officials from the Office of the Ombudsman, and one dismissed trial court judge have been nominated for Chief Justice.

They are seeking to replace Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who retires on May 17.

The 8 nominees whose names were submitted before the deadline on Thursday are:

• Associate Justice Renato Corona
• Associate Justice Antonio Carpio
• Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales
• Associate Justice Teresita de Castro
• Associate Justice Arturo Brion
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• Ombudsman Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio
• Deputy Ombudsman Victor Fernandez
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• Former Judge Florentino Floro.

Carpio, Carpio-Morales, and Villa-Ignacio have said they would only accept an appointment for Chief Justice if it is issued by the next President. They argued that the Constitution bars an outgoing president from issuing appointments 60 days before an election and until the end of his or her term.

In the case of President Arroyo, the ban starts on March 11 and ends on June 30. However, Malacañang has said that the President is also mandated by law to fill up vacancies in the Supreme Court.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera disclosed on Thursday that De Castro was nominated. However, it is not clear if she has accepted the nomination.

Former labor secretary accepts nomination

Brion, who served for two years as labor secretary of the Arroyo administration, accepted his nomination for Chief Justice without conditions.

In a February 4 letter to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the body that vets nominees to the President, Brion said he has accepted the nomination by Atty. Manuel Lazaro, president of the Philippine Constitution Association.
 
"I consider it an honor and a duty to accept the nomination to the Office that we in the judiciary regard as the utmost in honor and potential for service to the nation," Brion said.

Brion said it is up to the JBC to decide whether to submit his nomination to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose term expires on June 30, or to the next President.

"In accepting this nomination, I am fully aware that the JBC nomination process is now in the middle of a controversy that has excited, and elicited responses from, our citizens, our leaders and the best legal minds in the country.  I am confident that the JBC, under the leadership of Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, shall fully and lawfully discharge its duties under the Constitution," Brion said.

"As a sitting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, I cannot speculate, much less publicly air my views, on situations that may or may not arise in the appointment process.  That is a move that I shall undertake in due form, guided by the letter and intent of the Constitution, once a concrete case is before the Court," he added.

Among the top 5 senior justices, only Renato Corona has accepted a nomination for Chief Justice without conditions.

Two other senior justices--Antonio Nachura and Presbitero Velasco--have pulled themselves out of the process and given way to the more senior members of the bench. -- with a report from Timi Nubla, ABS-CBN News