It’s too early to sing hallelujahs, now that Leila de Lima is out of the running. It is also too early for the public to think that all too suddenly, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has found its independence and is no longer vulnerable to presidential pressure.
Sure, De Lima is out, but it was not what the JBC members who are allied with Noynoy who caused her exclusion in the shortlist, but one unnamed member who had exercised his veto , which gave the council, that was running out of time, no choice.
Just check on how the JBC members voted, and one can easily spot the candidate(s) most likely to be the choice of Noynoy.
From the voting pattern, majority of the JBC members gave the names of Justices Antonio Carpio and Lourdes Sereno, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza and former Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora, which tend to make the four the likely bets from which Aquino will be choosing to appoint as his chief justice.
It is, however, more likely a choice between an insider, Noynoy’s appointee and a less than two-year associate associate  to be his choice--if he chooses and insider. For an outsider,  it looks like Jardeleza. Zamora is the dark horse while Carpio’s chances may also have been damaged by the perception of his having played a role in the ouster of Chief Justice Renato Corona, as Sereno also did.
The focus then, however, was more on Carpio than Sereno which is why she got off easy.
The acting CJ may have been the top choice via the JBC voting, but that is because he was evidently the choice of the SC, which choice the JBC is to be guided. He obtained seven votes and not eight because Sen. Chiz Escudero did not give Carpio his vote.
Even with the highest number of votes, Carpio may not make it as the next CJ, as Noynoy appears to have others — an outsider and a junior insider, as his choice. There may be a dark horse looming, but that’s still a long shot.
Noynoy could well upset the SC cart and bring it down to really low depths if he chooses Associate Justice Lourdes Sereno, who is raring to be Noynoy’s CJ. He will also be upsetting the apple cart if he appoints an outsider, even if it is not De Lima. Abad would be a neutral choice if Noynoy appoints him. however.
Sereno is not liked in the high court. Recall that she was not even in the automatic inclusion on the list of nominees by the JBC, as she is a junior. But lo and behold, there was suddenly a nomination for her and she was in the race. As many know, she is hardly a popular figure in the SC, and is a very divisive person, willing to even go to the extent of destroying the institution she is in, and doing all she can to destroy its CJ, apart from her being the great defender of Noynoy and Malacanang in the SC.
The fact that she isn’t a popular figure within the high court can be gleaned from the way Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, who acted as the JBC’s presiding officer whose list included only insiders, such as  Justices Roberto Abad, Arturo Brion, Carpio, Teresita de Castro and Presbitero Velasco, all of the justices who were automatically nominated to the JBC list. Sereno apparently didn’t get the SC vote.
But look further, because apart from Carpio, who got seven votes, it is Jardeleza, Sereno and Zamora’s names that crop up in virtually every JBC members’ list — many of whom are die-hard allies of Noynoy. The outsiders are also not known as being pro-Gloria.
Analyze how Undersecretary Federick Musngi, Noynoy’s personal representative who has unconstitutionally sat in the JBC, voted, to get the thinking of Noynoy on his choices: Five outsiders, namely, PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista, Herbosa, Jardeleza, Villanueva and former Executive Secretary and San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, while three  insiders were included, namely, Justices Abad, Carpio and Sereno. None of the three justices are known to be pro-Gloria. Abad has only a few more years before he retires and could serve as a transition CJ.
Escudero also had Sereno, Jardeleza and  Zamora. Carpio was out of his list, but Justices Abad and Presbitero Velasco were.
Tupas, known to be Noynoy’s lackey, included Carpio, Sereno, Zamora and Jardeleza in his vote.
Former Justice Hermosisima did not vote for Sereno, but included outsiders Jardeleza and Zamora.
Justice Aurora Santiago Lagman had Carpio, Jardeleza, Sereno and  Zamora.
Lawyer Jose Mejia also had in his vote, Carpio, Jardeleza, Sereno and  Zamora while lawyer Fernan-Cayosa had Carpio, Jardeleza and Sereno.
See who are Noynoy’s allies in the JBC, still giving in to his whims in the matter of the CJ post?
Don’t look now, but it certainly looks like Noynoy will still be getting a puppy installed in the top judicial post. He does not care to have an independent SC.