Limitation upon tenure of office.
Section 148
SEC. 148. Limitation upon tenure of office.—Judges of first instance and judges-at-large shall be appointed to serve during good behavior, until they reach the age of seventy years, or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office, unless sooner removed in accordance with law. "SEC. 149. Qualifications.—No person shall be appointed judge of first instance or judge-at-large unless he has been five years a citizen of the Philippines and has practiced law in the Philippines for a period of not less than five years or has held during a like period, within the Philippines, an office requiring admission to the practice of law in the Philippines as an indispensable requisite. "SEC. 150. Clerks and other subordinate employees of Courts of First Instance.—Clerks, deputy clerks, assistants, and other subordinate employees of Courts of First Instance shall, for administrative purposes, belong to the Department of Justice; but in the performance of their duties they shall be subject to the supervision of the judges of the courts to which they respectively pertain. "The clerk of a Court of First Instance may, by special written deputation approved by the judge, authorize any suitable person to act as his special deputy and in such capacity to perform such functions as may be specified in the authority granted. "SEC. 151. Permanent station of clerk of court.—The permanent station of a clerk of court shall be at the provincial capital or at the permanent residence of the judge presiding the court. "SEC. 152. Provincial officer as ex-officio clerk of court.—When the Secretary of Justice shall deem such action advisable, he may direct that the duties of the clerk of court shall be performed by a provincial officer or employee as ex-officio clerk of court, in which case the salary of said employee or officer as clerk of court, ex-officio, shall be fixed by the provincial board and shall be equitably distributed by said board with the approval of the Secretary of Justice between the National Government and the provincial government."