MARVIN Leonen is now the Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice after the retirement last week of Estela Perlas Bernabe, who has reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Leonen, 59, was appointed to the SC in November 2012 by former President Benigno Aquino III and can serve in the high tribunal until 2032 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age.
As senior associate justice, Leonen is second in the line of seniority to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo.
Aside from being the SAJ, Leonen also took his oath yesterday before Gesmundo as the chairperson of the Senate Electoral Tribunal that decides election protests.
The electoral tribunal is composed of nine members, three of whom are SC associate justices designated by the Chief Justice, and the remaining six members of the Senate or the House of Representatives.
The SET is currently composed of Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting, and Senators Richard Gordon, Maria Lourdes Binay, Pia Cayetano, Manny Pacquiao, Manuel Lapid, and Risa Hontiveros.
NO MARCOS SC APPOINTMENT UNTIL 2025
Presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will have to wait until 2025 before he can make his own appointment to the SC.
President Duterte appointed Court of Appeals Justice Maria Filomena Singh to take the place left vacant by the retirement of Perlas Bernabe, completing the 15-member SC.
In all, Duterte has named 13 justices to the SC, the other two — Leonen and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa — appointed by Aquino. Caguioa will retire in 2029.
The justice nearest to retirement is Associate Justice Mario Lopez who will turn 70 in 2025. Lopez was named to the SC in 2019.
Gesmundo and Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier are next in line to retire in 2026 after reaching the mandatory retirement age.
Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting will retire in 2027, followed a year later by Associate Justices Samuel Gaerlan and Ricardo Rosario.
Associate Justices Rodil Zalameda, Jhosep Lopez, and Japar Dimaampao will all retire in 2033.
Associate Justices Jose Midas Marquez and Antonio Kho Jr. will retire in 2036.
