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February 11, 2025 | 5:07pm
The seat of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in Manila.
Philstar.com / EC Toledo
MANILA, Philippines — The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has opened applications and recommendations for the associate justice post in the Supreme Court.
In a bulletin posted on Tuesday, February 11, the JBC announced the upcoming vacancy for an associate justice position as Associate Justice Mario Lopez is set to retire on June 4, 2025.
Applicants must submit their requirements through the JBC Online Registration and Application System. The deadline for submission is March 28, 2025, at 4:30 p.m.
Following Lopez’s retirement, this will be President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first appointment to the country’s highest court.
Lopez was appointed as an associate justice by former President Rodrigo Duterte on Dec. 13, 2019, replacing former Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza.
For Supreme Court positions, candidates must be at least 40 years old and have served as a judge of a court of record for at least 15 years or have been engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines.
According to the Constitution, Supreme Court justices are appointed by the president from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council. Unlike cabinet secretaries and some officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, judicial appointments do not require congressional confirmation.
