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.
Franklin Magtunao Drilon is a Filipino lawyer and former politician. He had the longest tenure in the Senate of the Philippines,having served four non-consecutive terms overall:from 1995 to 2007 and 2010 to 2022. He has served thrice as president of the Senate:in 2000,from 2001 to 2006,and from 2013 to 2016.
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.
An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines is one of fifteen members of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,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 Tirol Carpio is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was sworn in as member of the Supreme Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 26,2001,and served until his retirement on October 26,2019. He served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines for a period of eighteen (18) years. He also served as chief justice in an acting capacity several times during his tenure as Senior Associate Justice.
Florenz Dolendo Regalado was the 14th appointment by President Corazon Aquino to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from July 29,1988,to October 13,1998. Regalado is considered the most influential jurist and writer on Remedial Law by far,writing the most complete compendium in one volume as early as 1972. A legendary professor for over 30 years,Regalado became a renowned expert also in Criminal Law.
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.
Nielex 'Lex' Tupas is a Filipino public servant. He was born in Iloilo City on August 11,1979. He is the youngest son of the former deceased Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas and former Municipal Mayor Myrna Causing Tupas of Barotac Viejo,Iloilo.
Lorenzo "Erin" Reyes Tañada III is a Filipino lawyer,broadcaster,and human rights and labor rights advocate who has served as a Deputy Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives. A member of the Liberal Party,he was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2004,as the representative of the 4th District of Quezon Province.
Neri Javier Colmenares is a Filipino legislator,human rights lawyer and activist. He was an associate of the Asian Law Centre at Melbourne Law School when he was completing his Ph.D. in law on "The Writ of Amparo and the International Criminal Court." He also lectured at the University of Melbourne on International Human Rights Law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
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 her removal in 2018.
The Philippine Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of the office's alleged underperformance and failure to act on several cases during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She became the second official after President Joseph Estrada in 2000 to be impeached.
Niel D. Tupas Sr. was the Governor of the province of Iloilo,a representative of the 5th District of the same province to the Batasang Pambansa (1978–1984) and Philippine Congress (1987–1998),and mayor of Barotac Viejo,Iloilo.
Renato Corona,the 23rd chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,was impeached on December 12,2011. Corona was the third official,after former President Joseph Estrada in 2000 and Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in March 2011,to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
Sherwin Najito Tugna is a Filipino lawyer,entrepreneur and public servant who is the vice mayor of Bocaue,Bulacan. He previously served as a representative for the Citizens’Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) party-list group from 2010 to 2019. He served his first term in the House of Representatives of the Philippines after CIBAC won two seats in the 2010 national elections. Tugna would go on to become one of the Assistant Majority Leaders of the 15th Congress. He ran for his third term in Congress through CIBAC Party-List in the 2016 general election where his party won a seat,sending Tugna to the 17th Congress of the Philippines. As a third-term lawmaker,he became the Chairperson of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.
The judiciary of the Philippines consists of the Supreme Court,which is established in the Constitution,and three levels of lower courts,which are established through law by the Congress of the Philippines. The Supreme Court has expansive powers,able to overrule political and administrative decisions,and with the ability to craft rules and law without precedent. It further determines the rules of procedure for lower courts,and its members sit on electoral tribunals.
Tranquil Gervacio S. Salvador III is a Filipino lawyer,educator,and civic leader. He has served as spokesperson and member of the defense panel for the impeachment of the then-Chief Justice Renato Corona and handled other notable cases of Filipino personalities and corporations.
Rodolfo "Rudy" Dia Robles is a Filipino lawyer and diplomat who was the Ambassador of the Philippines to Canada from 2020 to 2022 He was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on February 21,2020,and was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments on March 11. He was previously nominated to be the Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations and was a member of Duterte's Consultative Committee to review the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines.
Reynaldo Villar Umali was a Filipino politician who served in the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 2010 to 2019 representing the 2nd district of Oriental Mindoro. He ran for governor of Oriental Mindoro during the 2019 Philippine gubernatorial elections but lost to Humerlito Dolor.
