Comelec bars 16 more party-list groups

SIXTEEN more party-list groups have been barred by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from participating in next year’s elections for their failure to meet the requirements of the party-list system.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes identified the disqualified party-list groups as  the Philippine Coconut Producers Federation Inc., Alliance of Advocates in Mining Advancement for National Progress, Bayani Party-list group, Abang-Lingkod, Ang Agrikultura Natin Isulong, Agapay ng Indigenous Peoples Rights Alliance Inc., Alliance for Mindanao Elders, Greenforce, Firm 24-K Association Inc., Action League of Indigenous Masses, Alma sa Pagkahikahos at Ignoransiya, Kaunlaran ng Agrikultura, Asensadong Probinsya, Angat ng Bayan, Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy and Smart-Social Movement for Active Reform and Transparency.

The Comelec also canceled the registration as a party-list group of Kabalikat ng Bayan sa Kaunlaran (Kabaka) and Alliance of Bikolnon Party (ABP) but retained them as political parties.

Brillantes noted that Kabaka, which is the political party of Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, and ABP can participate as a political party in the coming elections but not under the party-list system.

Out of the 16 disqualified party-list groups, only Anad has an incumbent representative—Rep. Pastor Alcover Jr.

According to poll watchdog group Kontra Daya, Anad is an adjunct of, and receives funding and support from, the government, specifically the Armed Forces.

It noted that the controversial Mayuga Report on the “Hello, Garci” scandal, revealed that the Armed Forces has supported and assisted the Anad party-list in the 2004 national elections.

In the 2010 polls, Anad received a total vote of 297,984, thereby earning it one seat in the House of Representatives.

The Comelec en banc also affirmed the denial of the application of Kalikasan Green Party of the Philippines, A-Seamariners and Education Development  Services for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Edsa) as party-list groups.

“All of these cancellations were the unanimous decisions of the commission en banc,” Brillantes said.

Renounce armed struggle

MEANWHILE, People’s  Advocacy for Collaboration and Empowerment (PEACE) challenged the so-called communist party-list groups (Copals) to denounce crimes and abandon their armed struggle before they join the election process in the country.

In a statement, PEACE President Agnes Lopez said party-list groups such as Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis, Kabataan and other groups under the Makabayan political coalition should not be allowed to participate in next year’s midterm elections without first cutting their ties to the communist movement.

Lopez said these groups should swear before the Comelec that they are against the crimes being committed by the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

“It’s either they condemn the NPA’s crimes or get disqualified. If they have nothing to hide and if they are not fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines, then there shouldn’t be any problem for them to publicly denounce the atrocities of the NPA and renounce the armed struggle,” Lopez said.

Refusal to do so, she said, should be construed as their affirmation that they are indeed fronts of the CPP.

Lopez said Copals have been using the party-list system to advance their armed struggle against the government.

“If they want to join the elections, then they should give up their arms. They shouldn’t be allowed to occupy seats in Congress and use taxpayer money to fund the violent overthrow of our democracy,” Lopez said.

Lopez said several members of PEACE who have returned to the fold of the government could attest to Makabayan’s links to the communist movement.

“No less than [CPP leader Jose Maria] Sison gives praise to these organizations, noting that they are instrumental in the people’s struggle. Sison even gives solidarity messages to their national conventions and congresses. Also, books authored by Sison are even required readings by their mass organizations,” Lopez said.

Lopez also added that the links of the Makabayan party-list organizations to the NPA meant that they were assured of votes and were exempted from paying “permit-to-campaign” or PTC fees levied by the NPA on candidates entering NPA-controlled territory.

Black and white out; disabled persons in

BRILLANTES also announced that the poll body’s First Division has decided to deny the application of Black and White Political Party to join the party-list system.

The Black and White, one of the groups that is supportive of President Aquino’s administration, is seeking to get a slot in Congress in the May 2013 elections.

The poll body said the group failed to prove “through its articles of incorporation, bylaw, history and track record that it represents and seeks to uplift the marginalized sectors of women, youth and urban poor.”

“Like the purposes of its incorporation, its history shows that Black and White is primarily an advocacy group for good governance,” the Comelec said in a 12-page resolution.

Several members of Black and White are not occupying key positions in the Aquino administration. Among them are Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman and Presidential Peace Adviser Ging Deles.

Despite the ruling, Brillantes said the group can still appeal their case before the commission en banc five days after receipt of the decision.

Comelec First Division Presiding Commissioner Rene Sarmiento and Commissioner Armando Velasco voted for the decision, while Commissioner Christian Lim took no part.

Brillantes also announced on Wednesday that the poll body has approved the application to join the party-list system of  Pilipino With Disabilities (PWD).

He noted that the commission en banc unanimously approved PWD’s accreditation since its members are composed of disabled persons including its nominees.

“They are represented by Filipinos. All of them are disabled, all members, all nominees. Right now, we don’t have the representation of the disabled,” Brillantes.

Brillantes even said he hopes PWD will get enough votes to have a representative in Congress.

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Voters accept Obama's case for government

SOMETHING extraordinary just happened. Republicans had reason to believe Barack Obama would be a one-term president after four years of grim economic struggle. But these are not ordinary times. The US is still feeling the effects of the recession that took hold after the global financial crisis on the eve of Mr Obama's 2008 election. This year's election was a referendum on the economy, as Republicans had hoped, but it was also a choice between competing views of the role of government. The Democratic vision won out.
Not since Franklin D. Roosevelt has an incumbent won with unemployment above 7.2 per cent. After 43 months above 8 per cent, only last month did the rate fall to 7.8 per cent, the same as when Mr Obama took office. Yet the historical precedent suggests a context for the voters' decision to give him the responsibility of finishing the job of recovery, just as they did president Roosevelt in the Depression era 76 years ago. Then, as now, a majority of Americans supported a greater role for government than Republican candidate Mitt Romney, running mate Paul Ryan and their Tea Party backers would allow.
The results in key swing states suggest voters approved of bailing out the vehicle industry (and, earlier, the banks). This was crucial in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Mr Obama's hands-on response to hurricane Sandy compared favourably to Republican president George W. Bush's inept handling of Katrina. "Obamacare", the government-mandated health insurance scheme to extend cover to millions, was surprisingly well backed in exit polls.
Mr Romney opposed stimulus programs and bailouts, vowed to scrap Obamacare and even suggested cutting the government's emergency response capacity. Republican promises to preserve healthcare programs for the elderly were unconvincing in light of their proposals during the brinkmanship over the federal debt ceiling. Voters were well aware, as Congress's pitifully low approval ratings show, of the legislative dysfunction created by Republican obstructionism.

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Remarkably, the Democrats increased their majority in the Senate, which once looked likely to fall to the Republicans, who control the House. Senate candidates' blunders alienated moderate voters, as did Mr Romney's pandering to the right to see off his rivals in the primaries. The late emergence of "moderate Mitt" was unconvincing; voters remembered him saying he was not worried about the poor and "the 47 per cent" he said paid no tax and depended on government.
Having lost a contest that a more consistent and moderate candidate could have won — and, yes, Ronald Reagan would qualify — Republicans must take stock of their self-inflicted damage. That review will be painful, but not half as difficult as the task facing Mr Obama, who must go back to work minus much of the hope and energy of 2008. The recent revival of economic growth and confidence is fragile and faces an early test next month when the debt ceiling is reviewed. The debt has passed $US16 trillion, much of the growth still driven by Bush-era tax cuts and wars. Mr Romney's "deficit reduction plan" outlined tax cuts and higher defence spending without specifying savings.
Mr Obama must make the tough calls on savings and take on the almighty challenge of getting Congress to accept revenue-raising measures. No sensible budget policy can just ignore half of the revenue-and-spending equation. Europe's plight should spur the US to get its debt under control. The world needs Washington to act.
US voters have proved to be remarkably understanding of why they could not answer yes to the question Mr Reagan famously posed in his 1980 debate with one-term president Jimmy Carter: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" Unlike the Reagan pitch of 1984, Mr Obama was not yet able to declare: "It's morning again in America." Winning re-election may even prove to have been easier than the challenges still to come.

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Race heads to the finish line

Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and their running mates spent Tuesday in a last-minute dash for votes, with just hours left before the first set of polls begin to close on the East Coast at 7 p.m. and the 2012 presidential cycle begins its final act.
Voting ends first at 6 p.m. in some parts of Indiana, where the presidential race is not competitive but a close Senate race is in play. The first major poll closings in the presidential contest come an hour later, as voting ends in most parts of Florida, Virginia and New Hampshire.
The earliest the race might be called is likely 11 p.m., when polls close on the West Coast. By then, networks and newspapers may be able to project winners in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern battlegrounds that will tip the Electoral College to Obama or Romney.
(PHOTOS: Election Day 2012)
In the case of an extremely close outcome, a call could come much later than that. There were reports of high turnout across the country, with anecdotal indications of long lines at swing-state polling places.
Top Romney advisers told supporters that turnout is beating their models in a number of key battlegrounds in swing states, according to sources familiar with a Tuesday afternoon conference call.
Political Director Rich Beeson, senior adviser Ron Kaufman and others provided information on a handful of counties - in pivotal states -- some of it hard, some of it anecdotal -- according to a report on the call provided by two Republican sources.
Whether the vibes they're feeling are the harbinger of a wave or a ripple remains to be seen, but Romney's team is projecting confidence to its own inner circle of top supporters in the final hours of balloting.
Preliminary results of an exit poll conducted for The Associated Press showed, not surprisingly, that most voters were most concerned about economic issues. The survey of voters as they leave polling places Tuesday showed 6 in 10 voters say the economy is the top issue facing the nation, with unemployment and rising prices hitting voters hard.
About half of voters said former President George W. Bush gets more of the blame for economic challenges than Obama.
The two presidential candidates held events Monday evening that were billed as their final rallies for the campaign: for Obama, a speech in Des Moines, Iowa; for Romney, a rally in Manchester, N.H.
But Obama, Romney, Vice President Joe Biden and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan were all fully engaged with the race in its final hours Tuesday. The president recorded a series of swing-state TV and radio interviews and spent part of the afternoon playing basketball with friends and aides.
Romney visited Ohio with Ryan; the two also had separate events planned in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
(Also on POLITICO: 9 takeaways from the 2012 election)
Biden visited Ohio on the final day of the campaign, but it was in his home state of Delaware, where he voted early this morning, that the vice president made the first real political news of the day.
Asked by a pool reporter whether this is the last election in which he expects to cast a ballot for himself, Biden answered: "No, I don't think so" -- a possible nod to presidential ambitions down the line.
He joked at a later campaign stop in Cleveland: "I'm going to go back home and run for county council or something."
Biden's ebullience was matched on the other side. Visiting a campaign office with Ryan in Richmond Heights, Ohio, Romney said he was counting on the GOP turnout operation to elect him and bring about "the real change we really need in this country."
(See also: POLITICO's swing-state map)
"I'm so optimistic, not just about the results of the election, but optimistic about what's ahead for America. We have glorious, great days ahead and we're going to accomplish that together," Romney said.
As to his Election Day itinerary, Romney said he just couldn't sit still: "I can't imagine an election being won or lost by, let's say, a few hundred votes and you spent your day sitting around," he told WRVA radio in Richmond, Va.
Despite Romney's upbeat tone, national Republicans recognize that their nominee entered Election Day as something of an underdog. Romney trailed Obama in most swing-state polling heading into Tuesday, and the president held a lead in early voting in key states such as Ohio and Nevada.
The Electoral College map has long been challenging for Romney, as Obama starts out with more electoral votes in the bank. While Romney has sought to compete in Democratic-leaning battlegrounds like Michigan and Pennsylvania, members of his own party are skeptical that either could swing his way this late in the campaign.
In a Tuesday afternoon television appearance, former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour expressed optimism about Romney's prospects but emphasized the complexity of the electoral math at hand.
"Certainly Romney has to carry Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana, and I think he will carry all of those. But then you have to make up a few more votes that is not just one combination," Barbour, the former Republican National Committee and Republican Governors Association chairman, told NBC's Andrea Mitchell." "There are several combinations to make up those votes."
The White House is not the only prize on the ballot today: Republicans are seeking to take control of the U.S. Senate, where Democrats currently have a three-seat majority, while Democrats have aimed to regain the House of Representatives.
If the outcome of the presidential race is very much in doubt, there is far less uncertainty about the balance of power in Congress. Senior strategists in both parties acknowledge that the Senate and House are unlikely to change hands, and there may not even be a substantial shift in the number of seats each party controls.
The final POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Tracking Poll of the presidential race showed Obama and Romney tied at 47 percent nationally -- dead-even result consistent with other national polling.
There were encouraging signs within the poll for both sides: Romney led Obama among independents by 15 percentage points, a margin that would likely give him the presidency if it held up in actual voting.
Among voters in the 10 most competitive general-election states, however, Obama had a 6-point lead over Romney, 49 percent to 43 percent.
The major news so far Tuesday may have been that Romney and Obama -- who have engaged in one of the most consistently negative general election campaigns in recent memory -- had kind words for each other.
Addressing his rival, Obama said, "I also want to say to Gov. Romney, 'Congratulations on a spirited campaign.' I know his supporters are just as engaged, just as enthusiastic and working just as hard today." Romney, in turn, congratulated the president for running a "strong campaign."
Jon Allen and Maggie Haberman contributed to this story.

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Bill eyes P45B from ‘sin’ tax

A SENATE committee yesterday unveiled a substitute "sin" tax bill calling for higher tax rates on cigarettes than those proposed by the House, with the revenue take expected to be larger at P40-45 billion.

  "Our version adopts that of the Lower House with added features... and amendments," Senate ways and means Acting Chairman Senator Franklin M. Drilon said in his sponsorship speech yesterday.

The earlier version sponsored last month by Senator Ralph G. Recto -- who quit as ways and means chairman after receiving criticism for supposedly watering down the bill -- was expected to generate only P14 billion.

House Bill (HB) No. 5727 scrapped the unitary rate proposed by the Finance department and set two tiers for tobacco and three for alcohol products, with standard increases every two years after a transition period beginning 2015. HB 5727 is expected to generate P30 billion in incremental revenues.

The National Internal Revenue Code has a four-tier classification for cigarettes and three for fermented liquor and distilled spirits.

Mr. Drilon said the scheme will raise P40-45 billion in incremental revenues on the first year -- P26.87 billion from tobacco products, P7.17 billion from distilled spirits, and P12.5 billion from fermented liquor.

The new bill states that "on Jan. 1, 2016, all cigarettes will have a unitary tax rate of P32.00."

Before that, rates for cigarettes packed by hand will go up to P12.00 per pack on Jan. 1, 2013, P22.00 on Jan. 1, 2014, and P28.00 on Jan. 1, 2015, from the current P7.56.

The House version proposes only two tiers beginning January 2013, with an 8% increase every two years after the transition period, or from 2015 to 2025.

For cigarettes packed by machine, Mr. Recto proposed three tiers for the period March 2013 to 2019, with an 8% increment every two years. The tiers were supposed to be reduced to two by 2020 with an adjustment of 4% every two years thereafter.

"We also wish to introduce amendments to the excise tax provisions governing distilled spirits so that our laws would conform to our WTO (World Trade Organization) obligations. Under our version, we propose a mixed rate of P30 plus 30% of the net retail price (NRP)," Mr. Drilon said.

For distilled spirits, the House version proposed three tiers with specific rates while the substitute bill is a combination of specific and ad valorem rates. The Recto version maintained four tiers, with a two-step increase in rates based on proof per liter on March 1, 2013 and on Feb. 28, 2015.

"With respect to fermented liquor or beer, we shall be introducing a two-tier system with the products whose NRP do not exceed P22 taxed at P20. For those whose NRP exceed P22, the same shall be taxed at P25," Mr. Drilon said.

The House version proposed the same number of tiers but the NRP was set at P50.60 and below and P50.60 and above. Mr. Recto proposed two tiers during the transition period beginning March 2013, with an 8% increase every two years from 2015 to 2019 and 4% beginning March 1, 2020.

President Benigno S. C. Aquino III was amenable to lowering the take to P40 billion from the original Palace proposal of P60 billion.

"At P40 (billion), we’re happy. At P60 (billion), we’ll be happier. For P40 (billion) is already, I think, sufficient to meet the objectives both in terms of gaining more resources, managing the deficit but most importantly addressing the health issues," he said at the sidelines of the Asia-Europe meeting in Laos. -- K.M.P. Tubadeza with a report from Noemi M. Gonzales

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MILF to launch info drive on framework agreement

COTABATO CITY – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said it would hold separate information drive on the Framework Agreement that it signed with the Aquino administration in the so-called controlled areas in Mindanao from November 5 to 15.
Covering the entire Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and some provinces in adjacent regions where its 12,000-strong MILF armed members operate, the public consultations would be undertaken by officials of the MILF central committee and its coordinated committee on the cessation of hostilities (CCCH), said Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs.
Jaafar, in a radio interview on Monday, said “it is important to help the ARMM government in its massive campaign to inform and educate the people about the Agreement especially on the proposed power and wealth-sharing with the national government.”
The information drive will be unilaterally done, instead of doing it alongside with the government, Jaafar said.
“Right now, MILF resource persons will explain the content of the agreement, and all other queries will be gathered and relayed to the government,” he said.
According to Jaafar, MILF-controlled areas in Mindanao have to be clustered for public consultation purposes that include the South Cotabato-Sarangani-General Santos area, part of Davao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, the two Lanaos, Zamboanga and island provinces of Western Mindanao.
He said there are 10 MILF provincial ceasefire committees that will carry-out the task in the South-Central Mindanao area.
Jaafar did not say if the government is funding the MILF initiative which will have its biggest public gathering on Tuesday at Darapanan village, an MILF sanctuary in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
“We expect hundreds, if not thousands, would gather to listen and raise queries to selected speakers who would explain in the vernacular what the Agreement is all about and the benefits derived from it when the final peace pact shall have been formalized and signed,” he said.
Jaafar said the MILF information drive would be open to all affected inhabitants in the soon-to-be established Bangsamoro government in Mindanao.
ARMM Acting Gov. Mujiv Hataman, who earlier announced the region’s massive info-drive of P10 million drawn out from his `special purpose fund,’ has hailed the MILF initiative, saying the MILF move would be complementary in clearing-out misconceptions and aid douse-off apprehensions of some issues, especially concerning `proprietary rights’ on landholdings.
Hataman said local government units in the provincial and municipal levels have already been tapped by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and have started to reach-out “grassroot audience.”
Even civil society and religious groups, including media organizations have signified interest to help in the information dissemination, especially in the free distribution of photocopies of the Framework Agreement that the government and the MILF signed on Oct. 8 in Malacañang.

 By Charlie C. Señase
Inquirer Mindanao

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Aquino Arrives In Laos To Attract Investors

VIENTIANE — President Benigno S. Aquino III arrived at Wattay International Airport at 2:45 p.m. (3:45 p.m. Manila time) yesterday as he officially began his visit to Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic (Lao-PDR) for the 9th Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM).
Aquino is setting his sights on greater business tie-ups with the Laotian business community and European market while participating for the first time in ASEM.
Aquino is expected to showcase the Philippines as “Open for Business” to woo potential Lao, European,  and other Asian businesses to invest in the country.
The Philippines is particularly bent on opening investments in the area of energy, agriculture, mining, textiles, and tourism.
Upon his arrival, Aquino was welcomed by Lao executive officials including Hiem Phommachanh, Minister of Post, Telecommunication and Communication; Malayvieng Sakonhninhom, Ambassador of Lao People’s Democratic Republic to the Philippines; Anouphab Tounalom, Vientiane vice mayor; Sisavath Inphachanh, director general, consulate department; Vatlana Boupha, liaison officer to President Aquino; Soulideth Kongthavisay, security officer to the President.
Philippine Ambassador to Laos Maria Lumen B. Isleta, Department of Foreign Affairs European Affairs Office Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Buensuceso and Defense and Armed Forces Attache Col. Manny Gonzales were also part of the reception ceremony.
Accompanying Aquino were newly appointed Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) chief Arsenio Balisacan, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.
Isleta said after the ASEM 9 summit, the Philippine embassy in Laos will hold an inaugural meeting of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and their counterpart Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
According to Isleta, the Lao chairman of the Philippine-Lao PDR Business Council which is based here “has graciously offered to host a delegation from the Philippines and have the meeting arranged with key government officials and also private sector groups.”
“Apart from that, as early as June, we already had another Philippine outbound business mission that already came over to explore the possibilities for greater business tie ups,” Isleta said.
She said the official visit of the Prime Minister of Laos His Excellency Mr. Thongsing Thammavong helped pave the way for bilateral activities between the Philippines and Laos.
“So, there has been reinvigoration of our ties with Laos and we look forward also to the holding of the joint commission on bilateral cooperation (during) the first half of next year and during this joint commission meetings we normally go through the whole stance of cooperation between our countries,” she said.
The Philippine National Statistic Coordination Office has noted that in 2010, there are no recorded investments by Lao in the Philippines and vise versa, making investments with Lao PDR ripe for the opening.
Aquino started his Laos trip meeting the Filipino community here. There are around 556 Filipinos in Laos. A large number of the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) based here work in the mining industry.
In 2011, Laos ranked as the Philippines’ 136th export market and 129th import source. Though the country’s trade with Laos has not been large and significant in the past, the Department of Trade and Industry- Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (DTI-BETP) has made progress in this market.
Total trade with Laos reached $698,597 USD in 2011. During the same year, exports to Lao PDR amounted to $611,476 USD, while imports from Lao PDR amounted only to $87,121 USD. The balance of trade, in 2011, is pegged at $524,355USD in favor of the Philippines.
Philippine exports to Lao consisted mainly of cigarette tipping paper, medicaments containing Vitamin C, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, anti-sprouting products and plant growth regulators, disinfectants, and similar products put up in forms of packings for retail sale or as preparations or articles, and semi-conductor devices (diodes).
Imports from Lao PDR include prepared glues and other prepared adhesives, personal and household effects of travelers and immigrants; transmission, radar apparatus, reception apparatus for radio telephony and television and other articles of plastics and other materials such as polymers, polyacetals.
The Philippines is also seeking to boost its economic ties with European nations participating in ASEM dialogue.
On the other hand, Europe remains the Philippines’ third and largest trade partner after North America and Asia. In 2011, trade with Europe amounted to about 13 billion US dollars accounting for about 12 percent of Philippine total trade to the world, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA.
The Philippines welcomes the inclusion of Switzerland, Norway and Bangladesh as a member of the ASEM. Switzerland is a major investor in the country with investments amounting to P2.049-billion. Spain, Finland, Russia are also investment niches the government wants to explore.
Aquino is also set to conduct bilateral talks with heads of the European Council President, European Commission, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Japan.

 By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA

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Palace: Noy to appoint independent SC justice

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino will make sure the Supreme Court (SC) justice he will appoint to fill the slot vacated by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno will be independent as required by the Constitution, Malacañang said yesterday.
“The President will appoint based on his constitutional mandate and based on the characteristics that are put out by the Constitution – mainly independence, integrity, probity, competence,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.
Aquino has until Nov. 22 to name the justice who will fill in the slot vacated by Sereno, who assumed the top SC post last August.
Sereno’s appointment has stirred controversy, with some sectors believing that she would be subservient to Aquino, who promoted her following the Palace-backed impeachment of Renato Corona.
Militant groups also questioned Sereno’s independence, saying she was appointed to protect the Aquino family’s interests in Hacienda Luisita.
Malacañang has repeatedly denied the allegations and is confident that Sereno would remain independent while undertaking judicial reforms.
A total of 15 nominees are vying for the post of SC justice and the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) is expected to vote on the shortlist this week.
Nine of the 15 aspirants are from the judiciary, namely Court of Appeals (CA) Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and CA Associate Justices Ramon Bato Jr., Rosmari Carandang, Magdangal de Leon, Isaias Dicdican, Jose Reyes Jr. and Noel Tijam; Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Ma. Cristina Cornejo; and former regional trial court Judge Adoracion Cruz-Avisado.

The other six are outsiders, namely former University of Perpetual Help System law dean Jose-Santos Bisquera, former energy secretary Raphael Lotilla, De La Salle University law dean Jose Manuel Diokno, Securities and Exchange Commission chair Teresita Herbosa, former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva, and former University of the Philippines law dean and government peace panel chairman Marvic Leonen.
Malacañang, however, cannot tell for now if it is ready to let go of Leonen, who heads the government peace panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“(That is) hypothetical. We’ll not answer first,” Valte said when asked whether Malacañang would allow Leonen to move to the judiciary while the government is still talking to the MILF.
“Let us wait for the shortlist to be decided on by the JBC and then for it to be given to the Office of the President,” she added.
Valte could not say whether the peace process with the MILF would be finalized by the time Aquino appoints a new justice. She said they do not want to pressure the government panel, which is now crafting the annexes to the Bangsamoro framework agreement signed last month.
The 15 candidates underwent screening by the JBC composed of Sereno, Jose Mejia, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Senate justice committee chair Francis Escudero, House justice committee chair and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., lawyer Milagros Fernan-Cayosa from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, retired SC Justice Regino Hermosisima, and retired CA justice Aurora Lagman.
The public interviews were conducted last Oct. 23 and 25.
Under the Constitution, a justice of the high court should be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years old, and should have 15 years or more experience as a judge of a lower court or have engaged in law practice in the Philippines.

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