Duterte named Alexander Gesmundo as 27th Chief Justice — Panelo

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo as Chief Justice, a Malacañang official said Friday.

“Yes,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said in a text message when asked to confirm Gesmundo’s appointment.

Panelo added that Gesmundo was Duterte’s “personal choice” to succeed Diosdado Peralta, who left the judiciary on March 27, one year ahead of his compulsory retirement.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque neither confirmed nor denied Gesmundo's appointment.

“As a matter of SOP (standard operating procedure), judicial appointments are confirmed by my office only after they have been received by the Supreme Court. Given the long holiday, the earliest a judicial appointment can be received by the Court would be this Monday (April 5),” Roque said.

Gesmundo, 64, is Duterte's fourth chief justice appointee in less than three years. Duterte previously named Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Lucas Bersamin, and Peralta to the Philippines’ highest judicial post.

It was also Duterte who promoted Gesmundo from the Sandiganbayan to the SC in August 2017.

Gesmundo will serve as top magistrate for more than five years or until he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 on November 6, 2026.

The new chief justice obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1984 and passed the Bar the following year.

He entered the government service in 1985 as a trial attorney at the Office of the Solicitor General. He had also served as assistant solicitor general and commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government as well as taught law in various schools.

At the high court, Gesmundo voted in favor of the six-month closure of Boracay in 2018 and the removal of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for failure to submit some asset statements when she applied for the post in 2012, as well as joined the majority in junking the petition assailing the constitutionality of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which gave Duterte special powers to address the COVID-19 crisis.

He also backed the dismissal of the petition urging the SC to compel Malacañang to disclose Duterte's health records and former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s poll protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

Still pending resolution are the petitions challenging the legality of Duterte’s war on drugs and the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

The SC is also looking into the attacks on members of the legal profession and is expected to issue rules on the use of body cameras in the implementation of search and arrest warrants following the killing of nine activists in simultaneous police operations in Calabarzon on March 7.

Gesmundo earlier said he planned to establish a “technology-driven court” and conduct a review and assessment of the organizational setup and structure of the entire judiciary. 

Gesmundo’s rivals for the chief justice position were Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas Bernabe and Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando. — RSJ, GMA News