The Supreme Court on Thursday honored Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta who bowed out as the top magistrate after serving the judiciary for 34 years, starting when he was appointed presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 95 in 1994.
With the retirement of Peralta as the 26th Chief Justice effective March 27, SC Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe will automatically assume the position of acting chief justice until a new chief justice is appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Bernabe, along with SC Associate Justices Alexander G. Gesmundo and Ramon Paul L. Hernando, have been nominated by the Judicial and Bar Council to the chief justice post.
While the Court’s internal rules provide for the automatic assumption of the most senior associate justice as acting chief justice, the outgoing top magistrate may issue an order that would formally designate the most senior associate justice as acting chief justice.
In a special online En Banc session, the SC justices held a blended retirement ceremony to honor Peralta who extolled his unique and formidable leadership of the judiciary amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 14 associate justices participated online during a special En Banc session to mark the retirement of Chief Justice Peralta. He was joined at the Session Hall by a very few select guests from the Court, which included his immediately family—his 95-year-old mother Catalina Madarang Peralta, his wife Court of Appeals Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta, and their children Dorothy, twins John Christopher and Timothy John and John Isaac.
Those who attended in-person were required to submit the result of their COVID-negative RT PCR test and/or COVID-negative Antigen Test taken not earlier than Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Rapid Antigen Test was also made available onsite hours before the ceremony.
Due to the health protocols being implemented in the National Capital Region to ensure the health and safety of everyone, the traditional luncheon was dispensed with.
Participating virtually, the SC magistrates read the symbolism of the tokens given to the Chief Justice and gave their own personal tributes. The tokens included the Philippine and SC flags, commemorative pin, watch, SC seal and pen, ring, judicial robe and gavel.
Among those who joined the retirement rites via Zoom were retired Chief Justices Artemio Panganiban, Teresita de Castro, and Lucas Bersamin; incumbent and retired justices from the SC, Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals, and the Sandiganbayan; SC officials; government officials; and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Arroyo appointed Peralta as Associate Justice and Presiding Justice of the Sandiganbayan and subsequently as the 162nd associate justice of the Supreme Court.
All the associate justices extolled Peralta for faithfully serving the Judiciary for 34 years and how he spearheaded the Judiciary especially this time of pandemic.
In his speech, Chief Justice Peralta expressed his gratitude to everyone, saying he was leaving the SC “without any regrets, knowing that I did all that I could for the law, for the courts and for the nation, and with the conviction that I did my best in performing my bounden duty to the Constitution.
“I have faith in the thought that I gave my all in giving the Filipino people the kind of justice that they deserve.
“Given every challenge and difficulty that the Judiciary faced these past months, I believe I have done everything within my authority as Chief Justice to leave behind me a better and improved Judiciary. I have led, and lived, by example. I look forward to the world outside the Supreme Court with the thought that, at my age, life is still full of possibilities.”
Peralta retires as chief justice one year ahead of his mandatory retirement age of 70 on March 27, 2022. While the SC approved his optional retirement, it did not disclose the reason for his decision.
The Chief Justice retires after working for half a century, 34 years of which were spent in the Judiciary.
He worked for a private firm while studying law at the Faculty of Civil Law of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas and even after he passed the Bar Examinations in 1979. He was already the second highest Filipino executive in a Chinese owned firm when he left and decided to join government service.
He started his public career in 1987 as the third assistant City Fiscal of Laoag City and then by 1994, he was the Presiding Judge of Branch 95 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City.
He was named Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan in 2002 and became its Presiding Justice in 2008. On January 13, 2009, he was named the 162nd Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
He was appointed the 26th Chief Justice on October 23, 2019.