Retired SC Justice Mendoza named to JBC

Associate Justice Jose Mendoza (Photo By The Supreme Court Public Information Office – http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pio/annualreports/index.php, Public Domain)

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte appointed retired Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Jose Mendoza as a member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

Mendoza, who retired from the SC upon turning 70 last August, will replace fellow retired SC Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez in the JBC.

Mendoza who will represent SC retired justices at the JBC will have a four-year term which ends on July 9, 2021.

“Ad interim appointment to the JBC:As of 25 Oct 2017, Ret. SC AJ Jose C. Mendoza representing retired SC Justices; term to end July 9, 2021,” the SC Public Information Office posted on its Twitter account.

The JBC is constitutionally mandated to screen and vet nominees to the President for vacant posts in the judiciary and the Offices of the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman.

The council is chaired by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, with ex-officio members, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, along with the legislative branch namely Sen. Richard Gordon and Oriental Mindoro Rep.

Reynaldo Umali, who shall have a term sharing seat in the JBC.

President Duterte is expected to appoint at least 11 Associate Justices in the SC during his six-year term.