PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday named Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Samuel Martires as his first appointee to the Supreme Court under his presidency.
Martires, the high court’s 175th Associate Justice and newest member, will fill the post vacated by Justice Jose Perez who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 on Dec. 14 last year.
“The Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court welcome the Hon. Samuel R. Martires as the Court’s 175th Associate Justice and its newest member,” the high court said in a statement.
Martires, who was appointed to the anti-graft court in 2005, wrote the resolution approving a plea bargain deal that allowed former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia to petition for the lesser charge of direct bribery and money laundering instead of plunder. In exchange, Garcia would have to surrender P135.43 million of his assets.
This deal triggered the impeachment move against former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez who eventually resigned before her impeachment trial even began.
In 2011, Martires also wrote a decision dismissing a case against then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte over the demolition of a park installed by his political rival in 2008.
Duterte has yet to name his choice for the post vacated by Associate Justice Arturo Brion, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 on Dec. 29 last year.
In his six-year term, Duterte will get to appoint 12 Supreme Court magistrates to replace retiring justices.
Duterte on Monday completed the sectoral representatives of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, with Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George Barcelon representing the private sector, Taguig City Mayor Laarni Cayetano representing the Local Government Units, and National Youth Commission Chairwoman Aiza Seguerra representing the Youth.
Duterte likewise named his former professor, Jose David Lapuz, as Presidential Consultant for Education and International Organization along with 20 other high-profile appointments.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Director Renato Solidum Jr. also got a promotion as undersecretary of the Department of Science and Technology.
