Sandigan justice in Erap conviction named to SC

One of the three Sandiganbayan justices who convicted deposed President Joseph Estrada of plunder has been appointed to fill the remaining vacancy in the 15-member Supreme Court (SC).

President Arroyo has appointed Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro as SC associate justice, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a text message from Spain.

“She was appointed. Released the appointment to the Supreme Court already,”      Bunye declared.

De Castro replaces former associate justice Cancio Garcia who retired last Oct. 20.

The Supreme Court reported that De Castro’s appointment took effect last Dec. 1 and that she would take her oath before Chief Justice Reynato Puno today.

Prior to the announcement of the appointment, there was speculation that De Castro would get the SC post in light of the Estrada verdict.

De Castro, 59, became the center of attention last Sept. 12 when the three-member special division where she belonged handed down the guilty verdict on Estrada.

The two other justices of the special division are Diosdado Peralta and Francisco Villaruz Jr.

Of the three, it was De Castro who sat through the entire trial which started in 2001.

De Castro was appointed as associate justice to the Sandiganbayan during the Ramos administration.

It was in December 2004 that De Castro assumed the post of presiding justice of the anti-graft court.

A graduate of the University of the Philippines, De Castro took up law also at UP where she was awarded a certificate of merit for academic excellence, being among the top four graduates.

She was Vice Chancellor of the College’s honor society, the Order of the Purple Feather, from 1969 to 1972, and staff member of the Philippine Law Journal.

De Castro is now on her 34th year in government service with two decades spent at the Office of Chief State Counsel at the Department of Justice.

She has also been working in the judiciary for about ten years in various capacities.

De Castro, married to Eduardo de Castro, a businessman, started her career as a lawyer working for the Supreme Court, first as a law clerk until she became a judicial assistant.

After her stint at the Supreme Court, De Castro worked as a state counsel for the then Ministry of Justice for 19 years, ending her stint there as assistant chief state counsel.

At the Department of Justice, De Castro was a member of the 1988 government peace panel reviewing the military bases agreement with the United States.

She also became the legal adviser to the 1997 peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) and the Moro National Liberation Front.

In 1998, when De Castro had already transferred to the judiciary, she was bestowed an award - the Presidential Medal of Merit - by then President Fidel Ramos.

The award was for “exceptionally meritorious and valuable service rendered and remarkable accomplishments that have served the interest of peace, unity and progress in Southern Philippines, earning her the gratitude and admiration of the Filipino people.”

Sandiganbayan spokesman and executive clerk of court, Atty. Renato Bocar, said the appointment of De Castro to the Supreme Court will not affect the government’s forfeiture case against Estrada’s assets cited in the plunder conviction ruling.

“Everything is just procedural,” Bocar said.

Estrada’s controversial Boracay mansion will be auctioned on Dec. 7.

Bocar denied speculations that De Castro’s appointment to the Supreme Court was a prize for Estrada’s conviction in the plunder case.

He recalled that prior to De Castro’s latest assignment to the High Court, she had always been short-listed in the candidates for the Supreme Court associate justice post.

But on several occasions, Bocar said De Castro had to turn down the nominations as she wanted to concentrate on trying  former President Estrada’s plunder case.

“So it’s about time she (De Castro) gets her well-deserved promotion,” Bocar said.

Bocar also announced that Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval, second division chairman, will temporarily sit as acting presiding justice being the most senior among the remaining associate justices.

There is an internal rule that the most senior will be the acting presiding justice in case of vacancy while awaiting the appointment which will come from the President.