The Department of Justice is under the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for upholding the rule of law in the Philippines. It is the government's principal law agency,serving as its legal counsel and prosecution arm. It has its headquarters at the DOJ Building in Padre Faura Street,Ermita,Manila.
Adolfo Sevilla Azcuna is a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. He was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 24,2002. As of November 2019 he was the Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA),having been appointed to that position by the Supreme Court of the Philippines on June 1,2009. The Court granted the title of "Chancellor Emeritus" upon Azcuna who served until May 31,2021. He was succeeded by Arturo Brion who served for 2 years and was replaced by Rosmari Carandang as the fourth Chancellor who took her oath on February 23,2022.
Antonio Eduardo Bermejo Nachura was a Filipino jurist who was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He took his oath of office as Associate Justice on February 7,2007,and occupied the position until his mandatory retirement on June 13,2011. Previously,Nachura had been Solicitor-General of the Philippines at the time his appointment to the Court was announced on January 31,2007,by then-Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Voltaire Ylagan "Butch" Rosales was a Filipino Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court,Branch 83,Tanauan,Batangas,Philippines.
Raul Maravilla Gonzalez was the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and was the Secretary of Justice of the Philippines. He was replaced by Agnes Devanadera in 2009 from the orders of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Arturo Dizon Brion is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He took his oath as a member of the Supreme Court on March 17,2008. From 2006 until his appointment to the Supreme Court,Brion served in the cabinet of President Macapagal-Arroyo as the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment.
Teresita Leonardo de Castro is a Filipina who served as the 24th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines;she was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on August 28,2018. She assumed the vacated position once her predecessor,Maria Lourdes Sereno,was removed via a quo warranto petition;making De Castro the de jure 24th chief justice,and the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court.
The trial of Philippine president Joseph Estrada took place between 2001 and 2007 at the Sandiganbayan. Estrada resigned from office in 2001 during a popular uprising in Metro Manila after an aborted impeachment trial in which he was charged with plunder and perjury. Soon after his ouster,the same charges were filed against him at the Sandiganbayan.
The Office of the Solicitor General of the Philippines,formerly known as the Bureau of Justice,is an independent and autonomous office attached to the Department of Justice. The OSG is headed by Menardo Guevarra.
Roberto A. Abad is a lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from August 7,2009,to May 22,2014.
Arthur "Art" Cua Yap is a Filipino politician who is the former governor of Bohol from 2019 to 2022. He was the secretary of the Department of Agriculture under the Arroyo administration from 2004 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2007. He became a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines,representing the 3rd District of Bohol from 2010 to 2019.
Ferdinand Sumague Topacio is a Filipino lawyer,film producer and jazz vocalist. He was a speechwriter to Vice President Salvador Laurel,and had served as legal counsel to Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim,former presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Joseph Estrada,the families of the victims of the 2015 Mamasapano clash,and POGO businesswoman Cassandra Ong.
The order of precedence in the Philippines is the protocol used in ranking government officials and other personages in the Philippines. Purely ceremonial in nature,it has no legal standing,and does not reflect the presidential line of succession nor the equal status of the three branches of government established in the 1987 Constitution.
Florin "Pilo" Ternal Hilbay is a Filipino lawyer who served as the Solicitor General of the Philippines from 2014 to 2016. He acted as the Philippine agent in the international case,Philippines v. China,which nullified all historical claims of China in relation to the South China Sea dispute. He ranked first place in the 1999 Philippine Bar Examination.
Alfredo Benjamin Sabater Caguioa is a Filipino lawyer who is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Prior to his appointment as associate justice,he served as acting secretary of the Department of Justice and chief presidential legal counsel under the presidency of Benigno Aquino III.
Jose Callangan Calida is a Filipino lawyer. He previously served as Undersecretary of Justice and executive director of Dangerous Drugs Board under the Arroyo administration,as Solicitor General under the Duterte administration,and as Chairman of Commission on Audit (COA) under the Marcos administration.
Emmanuel Leido Caparas is a Filipino lawyer who served as acting Secretary of Justice under the presidency of Benigno Aquino III. Prior to his appointment as acting secretary he worked as undersecretary and spokesperson of the Department of Justice. He also worked as Acting Chief of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office.
Alexander Gahon Gesmundo is serving as the chief justice of the Philippines since April 5,2021. He replaced Diosdado Peralta,who retired early on March 27,2021. He previously served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 2017 to 2021.
Menardo Ilasco Guevarra is a Filipino lawyer serving as Solicitor General of the Philippines since 2022 under President Bongbong Marcos. He previously served as the Secretary of Justice under President Rodrigo Duterte and as a commissioner of the Philippine Competition Commission under President Benigno Aquino III. Before joining the government,he was involved in private litigation practice as a founding partner of the Medialdea Ata Bello Guevarra &Suarez law firm since 1990. He was also an active faculty member at his alma mater Ateneo de Manila University,where he graduated in 1974.
Hernando Benito Perez,also known as Nani Perez and colloquially as Nani,is a Filipino lawyer,academic,and a former politician who is previously served in the Arroyo administration as the Secretary of Justice,and as the Secretary of Transportation and Communications under former President Corazon Aquino.
