GMA reappoints retired Supreme Court justice to JBC

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo has reappointed retired Supreme Court justice Regino Hermosisimo Jr. to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

A long-time member of the JBC, Hermosisimo was named to the constitutional body as the representative of retired SC justices.

After his stints at the Sandiganbayan and the SC, Hermosisimo was named to the JBC and was reappointed once by President Fidel Ramos and three times by Mrs. Arroyo.

The President also reappointed Nenalyn Defensor as a commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education.

Defensor, a sibling of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, was reappointed following the end of her term last July 21.

Other new appointments announced by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday were Libby Gonzales, assistant secretary of the Office of the President and Teresita Lora, National Labor Relations Commission commissioner representing the workers’ sector;

Danilo Duncano and Lucita Rodriguez as deputy commissioners of the Bureau of Internal Revenue; Manolo Rodriguez, assistant commissioner of the BIR; and Arnel Guballa, Zenaida Garcia and Ma. Nieva Guerrero, regional directors of the BIR.

Ermita also announced that a total of 37 prisoners were granted executive clemency, 25 of which were conditional pardons and the rest being commutation of sentences.