Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–The Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill that would bar regular members of the Judicial and Bar Council from serving more than two full terms.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure was intended to ensure that no member of the council, which screens and recommends nominees for vacant posts in the courts, would sit in the panel indefinitely.
“The concept of perpetual reappointment of a regular member may open the possibility of the appointee incurring political indebtedness to the appointing authority such that the more a regular member seeks his or her reappointment, the deeper the political indebtedness becomes,” Pimentel said.–Leila B. Salaverria