Newly installed Sandigan Justice Geraldez dies

MANILA, Philippines - Newly installed Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Norberto   Geraldez died yesterday morning of pancreatic cancer; barely a month after President Arroyo appointed him to his post. He was 60.

Information gathered by The STAR showed that Geraldez died at around 4 a.m. and his remains will be cremated and brought to the Heritage Memorial in Fort Bonifacio for the wake.

Geraldez, who was also chairman of the Sandiganbayan First Division, was a former regional trial court executive judge in Calamba, Laguna.

Geraldez was a former partner of the prestigious Angara, Abello, Concepcion, Regala & Cruz (ACCRA) Law Office.

“He was an honest, good and upright person,” Deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael said, noting that he had known Geraldez since their law school days at the Ateneo.

“We at the OSP (Office of the Special Prosecutor) grieve for the loss of a man of honor and dignity,” said Special Prosecutor Wendell Barreras-Sulit.

“He left behind a legacy of propriety and good behavior not only before the public but in his personal relationship with friends and acquaintances,” she added.

Sulit, who was appointed special prosecutor on the same day that Geraldez was named presiding justice of the anti-graft court early last month, said lawyers of the Office of the Ombudsman “will surely miss him and we condole with his family.”