Aquino appoints new Sandiganbayan justice

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno S. Aquino III finally filled up the vacancy in Sandiganbayan, appointing a regional trial court judge as Associate Justice of the anti-graft court.

The president has named Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta as new Associate Justice of Sandiganbayan, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement on Monday.

Estoesta will replace Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang, who has since been appointed as Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice.

Coloma said Estoesta’s appointment was signed last June 20 and has been transmitted to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

The Constitution requires the President to appoint justices and judges in appellate and trial courts, including the Sandiganbayan, within 90 days from receipt of the list of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

Estoesta’s appointment came way beyond the deadline set by the constitution as the JBC submitted its list of Tang’s potential replacements last Feb. 28.

Estoesta will sit on the anti-graft court’s fifth division, where plunder raps against personalities implicated in the pork barrel scam were filed.

Prior to her appointment to the Sandiganbayan, Estoesta served as presiding judge in the Manila regional trial court to which she was appointed in 2006. 

Before that, she served as presiding judge in the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court.  She also served in the Solicitor General’s office from 1991 to 2002.

Estoesta obtained her degrees in political science and law from De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University, respectively.

She is a recipient of various awards including the most outstanding judge for first-level courts in the Supreme Court’s search for judicial excellence and Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano award for most outstanding judge for second-level courts. (with reports from Anna Bajo and Venice Amoroso)