Duterte appoints CA justice Rodil Zalameda to SC

President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda to the Supreme Court, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea announced Monday.

Zalameda beat out five shortlisted candidates for the SC post which was vacated by Mariano del Castillo who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 on July 29.

The new SC magistrate is expected to serve on the court for around 14 years or until his retirement in August 2033. He was appointed to the CA in 2008.

Zalameda was part of the pioneering batch of applicants that took a decision-writing exam last June in which one of the cases they had to rule on was a young lawyer’s petition for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

It was the first time that the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), which screens applicants to judiciary and Office of the Ombudsman posts for recommendation to the president, set the requirement.

Three SC vacancies will be created by the retirements of Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin and Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Francis Jardeleza later this year. — DVM, GMA News