Marcos appoints new CA Presiding Justice

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals has a newly appointed presiding judge, the Supreme Court announced.

Justice Mariflor Punzalan Castillo, who was appointed as a CA associate justice in 2009, took her oath of office before the SC on Wednesday as the “highest” judge of the country’s appellate court after being appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

She replaced Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando who retired last September.

It can be recalled that Castillo was one of the shorlisted SC magistrates in 2016.

Castillo finished her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1974 and Bachelor of Laws in 1978 at the University of the Philippines. 

She then started her legal career at the former Office of the Ombudsman — Office of the Tanodbayan — in 1979 and was appointed as a prosecutor in the same office in 1985.

She also served four years as a Special Prosecutor in the Office of the Ombudsman. 

Castillo started her career in the judiciary when she served as the presiding judge of the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 42 from 1993 to 1999. 

She served as the presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 84 of Quezon City from 1999 to 2004. During her tenure, Castillo also served as a special court judge for illegal drug cases from 2002 to 2001 and as a Family Court Judge of the same court from 2001 to 2004.