Secretary of Justice (Philippines)

Secretary of Justice
Kalihim ng Katarungan
Official seal of the Department of Justice
Incumbent Jesus Crispin Remulla since June 30, 2022 (2022-06-30)
Style	The Honorable
Member of	Cabinet, Judicial and Bar Council, National Security Council
Appointer	The president with the consent of the Commission on Appointments
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Severino de las Alas
Formation	April 17, 1851 (174 years ago) (1851-04-17)
Website	www.doj.gov.ph

The secretary of justice (Filipino : kalihim ng katarungan) is the head of the Department of Justice and is a member of the president's Cabinet. ^[1]

The current secretary is Jesus Crispin Remulla, who assumed office on June 30, 2022.

List of secretaries of justice

Director of Justice (1897)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	President
1		Severino de las Alas	April 24, 1897	November 1, 1897	Emilio Aguinaldo

Secretary of Justice (1898–1899)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	President
2		Gregorio S. Araneta (1869–1930)	September 2, 1898	May 7, 1899	Emilio Aguinaldo

Attorney General (1899–1901)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Military Governor
3		Florentino Torres (1869–1930)	May 29, 1899	June 4, 1901	Elwell Stephen Otis
					Arthur MacArthur Jr.

Secretary of Finance and Justice (1901–1917)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Governor-General
4		Henry Clay Ide (1844–1921) [2]	September 1, 1901	June 30, 1908	William Howard Taft
					Luke Edward Wright
					Henry Clay Ide
					James Francis Smith
5		Gregorio S. Araneta (1869–1930) [3]	July 1, 1908	October 30, 1913
					William Cameron Forbes
					Newton W. Gilbert
					Francis Burton Harrison
6		Victorino Mapa (1855–1927) [4]	October 30, 1913	January 1, 1917

Secretary of Justice (1917–1935)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Governor-General
(6)		Victorino Mapa (1855–1927)	January 1, 1917	June 30, 1920	Francis Burton Harrison
7		Quintín Paredes (1884–1973)	July 1, 1920	December 15, 1921
					Charles Yeater
					Leonard Wood
8		José Abad Santos (1886–1942)	April 26, 1922	July 17, 1923
9		Luis Torres	July 18, 1923	August 31, 1928
					Eugene Allen Gilmore
					Henry L. Stimson
(8)		José Abad Santos (1886–1942)	September 1, 1928	June 18, 1932
					Eugene Allen Gilmore
					Dwight F. Davis
					George C. Butte
					Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
10		Alejandro Reyes (1899–1972)	June 19, 1932	December 31, 1932
11		Quirico Abeto	January 1, 1933	July 5, 1934
					Frank Murphy
12		José Yulo (1894–1976)	July 6, 1934	November 15, 1935

Secretary of Justice (1935–1941)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	President
(12)		José Yulo (1894–1976)	November 15, 1935	November 15, 1938	Manuel L. Quezon
(8)		José Abad Santos (1886–1942)	December 5, 1938	July 16, 1941
13		Teófilo Sison (1850–1975)	July 18, 1941	November 27, 1941

Commissioner of Justice (1942–1943)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Chairman of the Philippine Executive Commission
14		Jose P. Laurel (1891–1959) [5]	January 26, 1942	December 4, 1942	Jorge B. Vargas
(13)		Teófilo Sison (1850–1975)	December 4, 1942	October 14, 1943

Minister of Justice (1943–1945)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	President
(7)		Quintín Paredes (1884–1973)	October 14, 1943	December 25, 1944	Jose P. Laurel

Secretary of Justice, Labor and Welfare (1944–1945)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	President
15		Mariano Eraña	August 8, 1944	February 27, 1945	Sergio Osmeña

Secretary of Justice (1945–1978)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	President
16		Delfín Jaranilla (1883–1980)	February 27, 1945	December 31, 1945	Sergio Osmeña
17		Ramon Quisumbing	January 2, 1946	May 28, 1946
18		Roman Ozaeta (1891–1972)	May 29, 1946	September 17, 1948	Manuel Roxas
					Elpidio Quirino
19		Sabino Padilla	September 19, 1948	June 30, 1949
20		Ricardo Nepomuceno	July 1, 1949	July 25, 1950
21		Jose Bengzon	August 29, 1950	September 23, 1951
22		Oscar Castelo (1903–1982)	January 1, 1952	August 16, 1953
23		Roberto Gianzon	August 17, 1953	December 30, 1953
24		Pedro Tuason (1884–1961)	January 4, 1954	March 19, 1958	Ramon Magsaysay
					Carlos P. Garcia
25		Jesus Barrera (1896–1988)	April 18, 1958	June 4, 1959
26		Enrique Fernandez	June 11, 1959	July 13, 1959
27		Alejo Mabanag (1886–unknown)	July 14, 1959	December 30, 1961
28		Jose W. Diokno (1922–1987)	January 2, 1962	May 19, 1962	Diosdado Macapagal
29		Juan Liwag (1906–1983)	May 20, 1962	July 7, 1963
30		Salvador Marino	July 9, 1963	December 30, 1965
(12)		José Yulo (1894–1976)	January 1, 1966	August 4, 1967	Ferdinand Marcos
31		Claudio Teehankee (1918–1989)	August 5, 1967	December 16, 1968
32		Juan Ponce Enrile (born 1924)	December 17, 1968	February 7, 1970
33		Felix Makasiar (1915–1992)	February 8, 1970	August 1, 1970
34		Vicente Abad Santos (1916–1993)	August 2, 1970	June 2, 1978

Minister of Justice (1978–1987)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	President
(34)		Vicente Abad Santos (1916–1993)	June 2, 1978	January 16, 1979	Ferdinand Marcos
35		Catalino Macaraig Jr. (1927–2003)	January 17, 1979	July 22, 1979
36		Ricardo C. Puno (1923–2018)	July 23, 1979	June 30, 1984
37		Estelito Mendoza (1930–2025)	June 30, 1984	February 25, 1986
38		Neptali Gonzales (1923–2001)	February 25, 1986	February 11, 1987	Corazon Aquino

Secretary of Justice (from 1987)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	President
(38)		Neptali Gonzales (1923–2001)	February 11, 1987	March 8, 1987	Corazon Aquino
39		Sedfrey Ordoñez (1921–2007)	March 9, 1987	January 2, 1990
40		Franklin Drilon (born 1945)	January 4, 1990	July 14, 1991
41		Silvestre Bello III (born 1944)	July 15, 1991	February 10, 1992
–		Eduardo Montenegro Acting	February 10, 1992	June 30, 1992
(40)		Franklin Drilon (born 1945)	July 1, 1992	February 2, 1995	Fidel V. Ramos
42		Demetrio Demetria	February 3, 1995	May 19, 1995
43		Teofisto Guingona Jr. (born 1928)	May 20, 1995	January 31, 1998
–		Silvestre Bello III (born 1944) Acting	February 1, 1998	June 30, 1998
44		Serafin R. Cuevas (1928–2014)	July 1, 1998	February 15, 2000	Joseph Estrada
45		Artemio Tuquero	February 16, 2000	January 23, 2001
					Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
46		Hernando Perez (born 1939)	January 24, 2001	November 26, 2002
47		Merceditas Gutierrez (born 1948)	November 27, 2002	January 15, 2003
48		Simeon Datumanong (1935–2017)	January 16, 2003	December 23, 2003
(47)		Merceditas Gutierrez (born 1948)	December 24, 2003	August 31, 2004
49		Raul M. Gonzalez (1930–2014)	September 1, 2004	September 2, 2007
–		Agnes Devanadera (born 1950) Acting	September 3, 2007	November 15, 2007
–		Raul M. Gonzalez (1930–2014) Acting until June 4, 2008	November 16, 2007	June 4, 2008
(49)			June 4, 2008	January 11, 2010
–		Agnes Devanadera (born 1950) Acting	January 12, 2010	March 8, 2010
–		Alberto Agra (born 1963) Acting	March 10, 2010	June 30, 2010
50		Leila de Lima (born 1959)	June 30, 2010	October 12, 2015	Benigno Aquino III
–		Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa (born 1959) Interim [6]	October 12, 2015	January 21, 2016
–		Emmanuel Caparas Interim [7]	January 22, 2016	June 30, 2016
51		Vitaliano Aguirre II (born 1946)	June 30, 2016	April 5, 2018	Rodrigo Duterte
52		Menardo Guevarra (born 1954) [8]	April 5, 2018	June 30, 2022
53		Jesus Crispin Remulla (born 1961) [9] [10]	June 30, 2022	Incumbent	Bongbong Marcos

See also

• Justice ministry
• Politics of the Philippines

References

1. "Vision, Mission, Quality Policy/Objectives, Mandate and Functions". doj.gov.ph. DOJ. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
2. Public Laws and Resolutions Passed by the United States Philippine Commission. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1901. p. 737.
3. Journal of the Philippine Commission Being the Second Session of the First Philippine Legislature. Manila: Bureau of Printing. 1910. pp. 137–138.
4. Journal of the Philippine Commission Being the Second Session, October 16, 1913, to February 3, 1914, and A Special Session, February 6, 1914, to February 28, 1914, of the Third Philippine Legislature. Manila: Bureau of Printing. 1914. p. 25.
5. "Jose P. Laurel A Register of His Papers in the Jose P. Laurel Memorial Library-Museum" (PDF). E-LIS repository. Jose P. Laurel Memorial Library. 1982. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
6. Gonzales, Yuji Vincent (October 13, 2015). "Aquino appoints legal counsel Alfredo Caguioa as ad interim DOJ chief". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
7. "Aquino appoints legal counsel Alfredo Caguioa as ad interim DOJ chief". Sun.Star. January 22, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
8. "Duterte names Menardo Guevarra as justice secretary". Philippine Daily Inquirer. April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
9. "Cavite's Boying Remulla is Marcos pick for justice secretary". Philippine Star. May 23, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
10. "Who's who: The Marcos Cabinet". Philippine Star. May 24, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.

External links

• DOJ website