The Supreme Court (Filipino:Kataas-taasang Hukuman;colloquially referred to as the Korte Suprema,is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on June 11,1901 through the enactment of its Act No. 136,an Act which abolished the Real Audiencia de Manila,the predecessor of the Supreme Court.
Impeachment in the Philippines is an expressed power of the Congress of the Philippines to formally charge a serving government official with an impeachable offense. After being impeached by the House of Representatives,the official is then tried in the Senate. If convicted,the official is either removed from office or censured.
The Sandiganbayan is a special appellate collegial court in the Philippines that has jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases involving graft and corrupt practices and other offenses committed by public officers and employees,including those in government-owned and controlled corporations. The special court was established by Presidential Decree No. 1486. It was subsequently modified by Presidential Decree No. 1606 and by Republic Acts 7975,8249 and 10660. It is equal in rank to the Court of Appeals,and consists of fourteen Associate Justices and one Presiding Justice. The Office of the Ombudsman owns exclusive authority to bring cases to the Sandiganbayan.
Renato Tereso Antonio Coronado Corona was a Filipino judge who was the 23rd chief justice of the Philippines from 2010 to 2012. He served as an associate justice after being appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on April 9,2002,and later as Chief Justice on May 12,2010,upon the retirement of Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
Cecilia Arreglado Muñoz-Palma was a Filipino jurist and the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 29,1973,and served until she reached the then-mandatory retirement age of 65.
Cancio Castillo Garcia was a Filipino lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was appointed to the Court on October 6,2004,by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and retired on October 19,2007.
Maria Alicia Austria-Martinez is a Filipino jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. She was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on April 12,2002.
Conrado M. Vasquez was the first Ombudsman of the Philippines and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
Consuelo Ynares-Santiago is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed to the Court by President Joseph Estrada.
The University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law or "UST Law" is a law school in Manila,Philippines. It is administered under the jurisdiction of the University of Santo Tomas,the oldest and the largest Catholic university in the Philippines. It is one of the three law schools of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila,with the other two being the Faculty of Canon Law and the Graduate School of Law.
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.
Monina Arevalo Zenarosa is a retired Associate Justice of the Philippine Court of Appeals.
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.
Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera was a Filipino lawyer who served as an Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court from 1979 to 1992. She was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court,filling the vacancy left by the retirement of the first female Supreme Court Justice,Cecilia Muñoz-Palma.
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.
Francisco Hernandez Villaruz Jr. is a Filipino justice. He was appointed on October 5,2011,by President Benigno Aquino III as Presiding Justice of the Sandiganbayan replacing Justice Edilberto Sandoval who retired last June 20,2011. Justice Villaruz has been an Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan since 2001. He took his oath before Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona last October 12,2011.
Nimfa Cuesta Vilches was a Senior Deputy Court Administrator (DCA) at the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA),Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was a regional trial court judge in Manila until her appointment as Assistant Court Administrator in 2006 and as DCA in 2008. She was a family law expert in the Philippines and in the international legal community.
Jose Catral Mendoza is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
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.
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.
