Section 144Sec./Art. 144

Qualifications of Judges; Tenure of Office; Compensation - No person shall be appointed as Executive Judge or Regional District Judge unless he has been a citizen of the Philippines for ten years and has practiced law in the Philippines for a period of not less than ten 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.

Regional District Judges 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.

The judges may be suspended or removed in the same manner and upon the same grounds as judges of the Court of First Instance:

The Executive Judge shall receive an annual compensation which shall be equal to that allowed or may hereafter be allowed for judges of the Court of First Instance and the Regional District Judges shall receive an annual compensation of one thousand pesos less than that of the Executive Judge.