Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on Tuesday revealed the composition of the reinvigorated Judicial Integrity Board, which, along with the Corruption Prevention and Investigation Office, aims to boost integrity and prevent corruption in the judiciary.
The reactivation of the JIB and CPIO fulfills part of Peralta’s Ten-Point Program, which is to implement the JIB and strengthen the Office of the Court Administrator. The Ten-Point Program can be narrowed down to four core areas: efficiency, integrity security, and service.
Peralta says retired Associate Justice and Philippine Judicial Academy Vice Chancellor Romeo Callejo Sr. and retired Associate Justice and former Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Governing Board Chairman Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez will be the chairman and vice chairman of the JIB. Callejo and Gutierrez will serve in the JIB for three years and two years, respectively.
The JIB members include retired Court of Appeals Justice Sesinando Villon, retired Sandiganbayan Justice Rodolfo Ponferrada, and retired Court of Tax Appeals Justice Cielito Mindaro-Grulla, who will serve for three years, two years and one year, respectively.
They are expected to take their oath before the Chief Justice on Oct. 19. They will be tasked to formulate the internal rules of the JIB, which will be subject to the Court’s approval meeting En Banc.
On July 7, the Court approved the proposed amendments to carry out the implementation of the JIB, which will act on the complaints against erring justices, judges, officers and employees of the Judiciary.
On the other hand, the CPIO will investigate erring Justices of the tertiary courts and judges and personnel of the lower courts, including the Shari’a Courts, and the officials and employees of the Office of the Jurisconsult, Court Administrator, Deputy Court Administrator, Assistant Court Administrators and their personnel.
In 2019, the Chief Justice renewed his commitment to continue purging the judiciary of misfits and erring individuals and promised to strengthen the OCA and implement the JIB, and forge a synergy between the functions of these offices through judicial audits, information gathering and sharing.
The JIB and CPIO were created in 2018. However, these two separate units were put by the Court on the back burner as the Committee on the Implementation of the Judicial Integrity Board called for a review of the JIB’s functions to harmonize and prevent duplicity with those of the OCA and other offices.
The JIB can receive administrative complaints or disciplinary actions against either the Presiding Justices and Associate Justices of the appellate courts and Judges of the lower courts, as well as act on complaints or referrals as provided for in Rule 140 of the Rules of Court, the “Internal Rules” of the JIB as approved by the Court En Banc, as well as the Court Circulars, Administrative Orders or other issuances.