MANILA, Philippines — Nineteen candidates are competing to fill the impending vacancy in the Supreme Court (SC) created by the compulsory retirement of Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier on November 16.
The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will kick off public interviews for the applicants on Tuesday, October 13. Led by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo as its ex-officio chairperson, the JBC is the constitutional body tasked with screening and nominating appointees to the judiciary, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Legal Education Board.
Prominent candidates on the list include Court of Appeals (CA) Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, and Solicitor General Darlene Marie Berberabe.
Joining Presiding Justice Peralta from the CA are Associate Justices Lily Villareal Biton, Nina Geluz Antonio-Valenzuela, Ramon Marino Bato Jr., Ramon Alcala Cruz, Maria Elisa Sempio Diy, Myra Virtucio Garcia-Fernandez, Rolando Roberto Martin, and Walter Ong.
Other contenders include Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Karl B. Miranda, Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Associate Justice Maria Rowena San Pedro, Bureau of Immigration official Aldwin Flora Alegre, Legal Education Board member Jason Rueda Barlis, Commission on Audit chief Gamaliel Asis Cordoba, Office of the Government Corporate Counsel official Solomon Mateo Hermosura, German Quintos Lichauco II, and Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioner Ernesto Maceda Jr.
The first set of interviews on October 13 will feature Alegre, Barlis, Econg, and Biton. Candidates scheduled for October 15 include Cordoba, Hermosura, Lichauco, and Maceda.
JBC Ex-Officio Secretary and SC Clerk of Court Marife Lomibao-Cuevas announced that previously conducted interviews for the remaining applicants will stay valid.
The council also invited public participation and opposition regarding the candidates.
“the public may submit a sworn complaint, report, or opposition against any of the candidates through mail to the JBC, 2nd floor of SC-CA building on Maria Orosa Street, Ermita, Manila, Padre Faura Street or personal submission in three legible copies, or by electronic mail to jbc@judiciary.gov.ph not later than 4:30 p.m on Oct. 19, 2026.”
Justice Lazaro-Javier was appointed to the High Tribunal on March 7, 2019, following over a decade as an appellate court judge from 2007 to 2019. Her public service career began at the Office of the Solicitor General, where she served as trial attorney, solicitor, and assistant solicitor general from 1983 to 2007.
Born in Manila on November 16, 1956, she earned an education degree, magna cum laude, from the Philippine Normal College in 1977. She graduated valedictorian and magna cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law in 1982 before passing the Bar Examination that same year with a rating of 82.8 percent.
She is married to Atty. Rolando Javier, with whom she has three children and one grandchild.