How the Next Chief Justice of the Philippines Is Chosen: The JBC, the Shortlist, and the 90-Day Clock

Five justices are in the running to succeed Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo. Here is the constitutional process, step by step, and what happens while the seat is vacant.

Last reviewed: October 24, 2026General legal information, not legal advice
What happened: Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 on November 6, 2026. The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) closed applications on October 13 and is interviewing five sitting justices in public: Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa on October 22, and Associate Justices Rodil V. Zalameda, Japar B. Dimaampao and Jose Midas P. Marquez on October 26. Sworn complaints or oppositions against any candidate are due by 4:30 p.m. on October 27, 2026. A second vacancy opens on November 16, when Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier retires.

The President appoints the next Chief Justice from a list of at least three nominees chosen by the Judicial and Bar Council, with no Commission on Appointments confirmation. The seat must be filled within 90 days of the November 6, 2026 vacancy: by February 4, 2027. Meanwhile the most senior Associate Justice, Marvic Leonen, acts as Chief Justice.

Legal question

Who can become Chief Justice of the Philippines, how is the choice made, how long does the President have to make it, and who runs the Supreme Court while the post is vacant?

Applicable laws and rules

Why this matters

The Chief Justice presides over the Supreme Court En Banc and chairs the JBC itself, and the Supreme Court exercises administrative supervision over every court in the country under Article VIII, Section 6. This appointment will be President Marcos's first choice of a Chief Justice, and it comes as the Court decides cases with large public stakes, from the 2024–2026 budget ruling to the mandamus ordering an anti-dynasty law. Two seats opening ten days apart also means two appointments shaping the En Banc at once.

Who can be Chief Justice

The constitutional qualifications in Article VIII, Section 7 are the same for the Chief Justice as for any Associate Justice: a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, at least forty years of age, who has been for fifteen years or more a judge of a lower court or engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines, and who is a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence. Nothing in the Constitution requires the Chief Justice to come from inside the Court. Outsiders may apply, and the JBC decides whom to consider: this cycle it did not consider one outside applicant, a former presidential candidate.

Step 1: the JBC opens the vacancy and screens applicants

The Judicial and Bar Council exists under Article VIII, Section 8 to recommend appointees to the judiciary. Its members are the Chief Justice as ex officio chairman, the Secretary of Justice, a representative of Congress, a representative of the Integrated Bar, a professor of law, a retired Member of the Supreme Court, and a representative of the private sector. The Clerk of the Supreme Court is its secretary. On October 22 the panel included Chief Justice Gesmundo, Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, Rep. Gerville Luistro, retired Justice Jose Catral Mendoza, retired Court of Tax Appeals Justice Erlinda Piñera Uy, lawyer Jose Mejia, and law professor Nesauro Firme.

For this vacancy the JBC took applications, nominations and documentary requirements until October 13, 2026, and invited the public to file sworn complaints, reports or oppositions against candidates. By tradition it invites the five most senior Associate Justices to apply for Chief Justice. This year two senior justices, Ramon Paul L. Hernando and Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, are not on the list of candidates.

Step 2: public interviews

Candidates are interviewed in public, in the Supreme Court's session hall, on questions about their record, judicial philosophy and plans for the judiciary. Leonen and Caguioa faced the panel on October 22; Zalameda, Dimaampao and Marquez follow on October 26. The JBC then deliberates and votes.

Step 3: the shortlist of at least three

Under Article VIII, Section 9, the President appoints "from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for every vacancy." The President must choose from the list. The Constitution gives no power to appoint someone the JBC did not nominate, and the JBC cannot send fewer than three names.

Step 4: the President appoints, with no confirmation

Supreme Court appointments "need no confirmation." The Commission on Appointments has no role. The deadline is in Article VIII, Section 4(1): "Any vacancy shall be filled within ninety days from the occurrence thereof." Counting from November 6, 2026, the ninetieth day is February 4, 2027. Section 9's separate ninety-day rule, counted from the submission of the list, applies only to lower courts.

Seniority is tradition, not law

Nothing in the Constitution or the Judiciary Act requires the President to choose the most senior Associate Justice. Seniority shapes the process in two places only: the JBC's tradition of inviting the five most senior justices to apply, and the rule on who acts while the seat is empty.

Who leads the Court between November 6 and the appointment

Section 12 of Republic Act No. 296, the Judiciary Act of 1948, provides that in case of a vacancy in the office of Chief Justice, its duties and powers "shall devolve upon the Associate Justice who is first in precedence, until … another Chief Justice is appointed and duly qualified." The Supreme Court's spokesperson has confirmed that Senior Associate Justice Leonen would serve as acting Chief Justice if no appointment is made by November 6.

The election-ban question is not in play

In De Castro v. Judicial and Bar Council (G.R. No. 191002, March 17, 2010), the Court held that the ban on presidential appointments in the two months before a presidential election, in Article VII, Section 15, does not apply to Supreme Court vacancies. It directed the JBC to submit its shortlist for the vacancy left by Chief Justice Reynato Puno to the incumbent President, and it denied reconsideration on April 20, 2010. The next presidential election is in May 2028, so the issue does not arise now, but De Castro confirms that the ninety-day mandate controls.

Two vacancies at once

The JBC has already interviewed 19 applicants for the associate justice seat that opens when Justice Lazaro-Javier retires on November 16, 2026. They include Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith A. Econg and Solicitor General Darlene Marie B. Berberabe. If a sitting Associate Justice becomes Chief Justice, that justice's old seat becomes a third vacancy, which starts its own ninety-day clock and its own JBC process.

What individuals should know

If you have information bearing on a candidate's competence, integrity, probity or independence, the JBC accepts sworn complaints, reports and oppositions. For this vacancy they may be sent by mail to the JBC, 2nd floor, SC-CA building, Maria Orosa Street, Ermita, Manila; submitted in person in three legible copies; or emailed to [email protected], no later than 4:30 p.m. on October 27, 2026.

If you are following the selection, watch for the JBC's list of nominees and the President's appointment, which must come by February 4, 2027. The public interviews may be covered live by the media under the JBC's guidelines.

Whoever is appointed serves during good behavior until age 70 under Article VIII, Section 11. Members of the Supreme Court are impeachable officers under Article XI, Section 2.

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