President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is thoroughly reviewing candidates for his first appointment to the Supreme Court, in anticipation of the mandatory retirement of Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez on June 4.

“At this time, we would like to tell the people that the President is deliberating on his first historic appointment to the Supreme Court,” Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin said during a press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday.

Lopez was appointed to the SC on December 5, 2019. He previously served as associate justice of the Court of Appeals (CA) for 13 years.

Bersamin said they had recently received the list of nominees from the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), which is in charge of screening and nominating applicants to top positions in the judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman.

“We received the list from the JBC only recently, and (the President) is poised to make his first appointment in that court. We cannot make any announcements yet on who his choice will be,” said Bersamin, a former Supreme Court Chief Justice.

President Marcos has 90 days from the date of the judicial vacancy to appoint Associate Justice Lopez’s replacement. | PND