G.R. No. 224302, November 29, 2016
HON. PHILIP A. AGUINALDO, ET AL., AND THE INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES (IBP), PETITIONERS, VS. HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT BENIGNO SIMEON C. AQUINO III, ET AL., RESPONDENTS.

FACTS

Republic Act No. 10660 created two new divisions in the Sandiganbayan, resulting in six vacant positions for Associate Justice. The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) submitted six separate shortlists, one for each specific vacancy (16th to 21st Justice), to President Aquino. Petitioners, five RTC judges whose names appeared on the shortlist for the 16th Justice, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), challenged the President’s appointments of respondents Michael Frederick L. Musngi and Ma. Geraldine Faith A. Econg. The appointments were made from the shortlist for the 21st Justice, despite Musngi and Econg not being on the shortlist for the 16th vacancy from which the petitioners were nominated. Petitioners argued the President violated the constitutional mandate by appointing from a different shortlist, thereby bypassing their nominations.

ISSUE

Whether the President is constitutionally required to appoint a nominee only from the shortlist submitted for a specific, numbered vacancy in the Sandiganbayan.

RULING

The Supreme Court DISMISSED the petition. The Court held that the President is not constitutionally mandated to appoint from a specific shortlist tied to a numerically sequenced vacancy. The legal logic rests on the interpretation of Article VIII, Section 9 of the Constitution, which states the President shall appoint from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the JBC “for every vacancy.” The Court ruled that the phrase “for every vacancy” refers to the existence of a vacant position, not to a specific, ordinal vacancy number. The six shortlists submitted were for six concurrent and identical vacancies for the office of Sandiganbayan Associate Justice. The numbering (16th to 21st) was merely an administrative tool for the JBC’s internal tracking and did not create six distinct offices with separate qualifications. Therefore, all nominees across the six lists were considered nominees for the same category of office—Sandiganbayan Associate Justice. The President’s power of appointment is executive and discretionary. Having six lists for six concurrent vacancies, the President could appoint any nominee from any of the lists to fill any of the vacancies, as long as the appointee came from a list submitted for a vacancy. The President did not act without or in excess of jurisdiction, as the appointments of Musngi and Econg were made from a valid list of nominees for a Sandiganbayan vacancy.