The chief justice of the Philippines presides over the Supreme Court and is the highest judicial officer of the government of the Philippines. As of April 5,2021,the position is currently held by Alexander Gesmundo,who was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte following the early retirement of his predecessor,Diosdado Peralta,in March 2021.
An associate justice of the Supreme Court is one of fifteen members of the Supreme Court,the highest court in the Philippines. The chief justice presides over the high court,but carries only one of the 15 votes in the court. Traditionally,the chief justice is deemed primus inter pares among the justices.
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.
San Beda College of Law is the law school college under the San Beda University,a private,Roman Catholic university run by the Benedictine monks in the Philippines.
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.
Agnes Vicenta Salayo Torres-Devanadera,also known as Agnes VST Devanadera,is a Filipina lawyer and politician who is currently the president and CEO of Clark Development Corporation since her appointment by Bongbong Marcos in 2022. She previously served as the chairperson of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) from 2017 to 2022 during the Duterte administration. During the Arroyo administration,she served as the Solicitor General of the Philippines,the first woman to hold the post. She was also the acting Secretary of Justice on two short stints.
Maria Lourdes "Meilou" Aranal-Sereno is a Filipina lawyer and judge who served as de facto chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2012 until 2018.
Bienvenido Lorenzo Reyes is a Filipino lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He left the Court of Appeals on August 23,2011 to assume his seat on the Supreme Court.
Francis H. Jardeleza is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He served as Solicitor General of the Philippines from 2012 to 2014,and was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III to the High Court on August 19,2014.
The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) is an electoral tribunal that decides election protests in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It consists of six representatives and three justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,who are designated by the Chief Justice. The equivalent tribunals for elections to the upper house is the Senate Electoral Tribunal and for president is the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. The tribunal is located at SET-HRET Building,Commission on Audit Compound,Quezon City.
Samuel Reyes Martires is a Filipino lawyer serving as the Ombudsman of the Philippines since 2018. He was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 2017 to 2018.
Noel Gimenez Tijam is a Filipino lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from March 8,2017 to January 5,2019. Prior to his appointment,he was a justice of Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2017.
Andres Bernal Reyes Jr. is a Filipino lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2017 to 2020. He was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte replacing Associate Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes.
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.
The quo warranto petition against Maria Lourdes Sereno,filed before the Supreme Court of the Philippines,led to the landmark case Republic v. Sereno,which nullified Maria Lourdes Sereno's appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,finding that she never lawfully held the office due to a lack of integrity for failing to file certain required financial documents. As a result,she was ousted from the Supreme Court as Chief Justice. The Court handed down its ruling on May 11,2018. The case began with a filing before the House of Representatives of an impeachment demand,the accusations in which Solicitor General Jose Calida used as the factual basis for his quo warranto petition.
Rosmari Declaro Carandang is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to replace then-Justice Teresita de Castro.
Mario Villamor Lopez is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to replace Francis Jardeleza.
Edgardo "Edgar" Lao Delos Santos is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to replace Justice Antonio Carpio.
Priscilla Joson Baltazar-Padilla served as the 188th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 2020. She was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to replace Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr.
