PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. has appointed new associate justices in the Court of Appeals (CA), Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), and the Sandiganbayan.
Transmittal letters from the Office of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin dated September 26 to the office of Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo named the three new justices for the CA as Associate Justices Ma. Consejo Mapa Gengos-Ignalag, Lorna Francisca Catris Chua Cheong, and Raymond Joseph Guevarra.
Gengos-Ignalag took the post of Justice Manuel Barrios, who retired after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, while Chua Cheng took the post of now Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh.
Guevarra Javier took the post of Loida Posadas-Kahulugan, who also retired after reaching the compulsory retirement age.
The three took their oath before Gesmundo last Wednesday.
Marcos, in transmittal letters to Gesmundo dated September 26, appointed Henry Sumaway Angeles as associate justice of the Court of Tax Appeals, replacing Erlinda Uy; while Juliet Marquez Manalo-San Gaspar was appointed to the Sandiganbayan as replacement of Alex Quiroz.
Uy has been appointed as a member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the body tasked by the 1987 Constitution to screen and vet nominees to the Judiciary, representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
Quiroz has been appointed by Marcos as chairperson of the Governance Commission for Government-Owned-and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs).
The appointment of the five justices was only the second set of justices appointed by Marcos in the Judiciary.
Last October, he appointed Selma Alarcio-Alaras and Wilhelmina Jorge-Wagan as CA justices and Corazon Ferrer-Flores for the CTA.
Marcos will have to wait for two more years before he can make an appointment to the SC, with the compulsory retirement in 2025 of Associate Justice Mario Lopez.
