'Terorismo' gisunod sa pagbuto sa barko

President Arroyo has appointed a Sandiganbayan associate justice as the new associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Gregory Ong will assume the post left by Justice Romeo Callejo Jr. who retired last month. It was former President Joseph Estrada who
appointed Ong to his Sandiganbayan post. Before his new appointment, Ong was the chairman of the graft court’s fourth division.

“I would like to thank the President for her confidence in me. I would like to assure her and the entire nation that I will perform my duties as a High Court Magistrate with utmost dedication and with only my conscience and the good of the nation as my guide,” Ong told reporters yesterday.

Ong was on the shortlist of candidates submitted to Malacañang by the Judicial Bar Council, but sources had said he was an underdog.

Ong took up his Bachelor of Laws at the San Beda College from 1975 to 1979, and obtained his Master of Laws from the Manuel L. Quezon University in Manila in 1990.

From 1986 to December 1993, Ong worked at the Office of the City Prosecutor in Manila, starting as Assistant City Prosecutor and later as Second Assistant City Prosecutor.

He also worked as judge at the Pasig City Regional Trial Court from 1994 to 1998.

President Estrada appointed him to the Sandiganbayan as Associate Justice in October 1998.

He was acting chairman of the First Division of the Sandiganbayan until October 2002 when he was finally named chairman of the Fourth Division.

Ong, born on May 25, 1953, is married to Nancy L. Ong. They have three children, Neil Gregory, Gregory II and Nicole.

Reports from a television network said that Estrada was surprised to hear of Ong’s appointment. “There are justices more senior than him,” Estrada said, adding that he appointed Ong because he was a career official.

The Sandiganbayan is expected to hand down its verdict on the plunder case against Estrada within the next few months. - With Marvin Sy