MANILA, Philippines – The recycling continues and has reached the judiciary, as President Rodrigo Duterte takes out retired judge Franklin Demonteverde from the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and assigns him to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

Malacañang’s recent appointments list released to media showed that Demonteverde will be the “ad-interim” Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) representative to the JBC.

The JBC is an all-powerful council that vets all applicants to the judiciary, from judges to the chief justice. Demonteverde will have to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

Demonteverde will replace Milagros Fernan-Cayosa, whose stint as IBP representative to the JBC was marked by her pointed scrutiny of applicants’ assets and wealth.

IBP national president Domingo “Egon” Cayosa said Demonteverde is one of the 4 applicants that the IBP endorsed to Malacañang.

Demonteverde and the rest of the MWSS board of trustees got in Duterte’s crosshairs during the water shortage crisis. The President at one point slammed the agency for corruption.

Demonteverde is a retired judge from Bacolod. He has a business degree from the University of the East, and a law degree from the University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos. 

San Beda club?

The other members of the JBC are mostly graduates of San Beda like Duterte. Among them are his close friend, retired judge Toribio Ilao; his fraternity brother, retired justice Jose Mendoza; and retired justice Noel Tijam.

Tijam is the academe’s representative to the JBC, although his academic experience is limited to a 7-year teaching stint at the Philippine School of Business Administration in the 70s, and his lectures at the  at the Philippine Judicial Academy or PHILJA, University of the Philippines Law Center, and the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Program.

If Demonteverde is confirmed, he will serve 4 years in the JBC and will be eligible for a one-time renewal if approved by the President.

With this appointment, all 4 regular members of the JBC are now Duterte appointees. (READ: By 2022, Supreme Court filled with Duterte appointees)

The ex-officio members of the JBC who also get a vote are Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Senate justice committee chairman Richard Gordon, and whoever will get the chairmanship of the House justice committee. –  Rappler.com