Press Release
September 18, 2007

KIKO: AMEND JBC RULES; OPEN VOTING
PROCESS TO PUBLIC FOR TRANSPARENCY

In a bid to promote transparency and participatory governance, Senate Majority Leader and Senate ex-officio member to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) Kiko Pangilinan today moved for the amendment of the JBC Rules to open the voting process, meetings and deliberations of the JBC to the public.

In a letter to Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Sen. Kiko called for the amendment of Section 1 of Rule 10 of the JBC which reads, " Votes required for inclusion as nominee.-No applicant shall be considered for nomination for appointment to a judicial position unless he shall obtain the affirmative vote of at least a majority of all the Members of the Council."

"I am proposing the addition of the passage 'With the exception of executive sessions tackling sensitive/delicate matters and/or subject/topics confidential in nature, which shall be made available to the public only upon majority vote of the members of the Council present, the voting process for any judicial post in the Sandiganbayan, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, or Ombudsman or Deputy Ombudsman, including all meetings and/or deliberations prior to voting, shall be open to the public.'" Kiko said.

"We have long worked on confronting the perceived exclusivity of the JBC's selection process, as clearly, the appointment of our public officials is a matter of public interest. Our Constitution guarantees our people the right to information on the matters of public interest. In 2001, I also proposed for the amendment of the JBC Rules to make mandatory public interviews of candidates to key positions in the Judiciary. This is our continued thrust to not just promote transparency, but also to encourage our citizens to participate in these democratic processes," Kiko ended.

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