Duterte elevates CA Justice Japar Dimaampao to Supreme Court

President Rodrigo Duterte has elevated Court of Appeals Justice Japar Dimaampao to the Supreme Court, making him the second Muslim lawyer to join the high tribunal since it was established in 1901.

Dimaampao was appointed on July 2 to occupy the seat vacated by Alexander Gesmundo following his appointment as chief justice last April. The SC released Dimaampao’s appointment paper on Tuesday.

Dimaampao, 57, joined the CA in 2004 at the age of 40. He is also a former prosecutor and a judge.

He was the chairperson of the bar examinations for the Shari'ah courts last year.

Justice Japar Babay Dimaampao takes his oath as the 191st Associate Justice of the Supreme Court before Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo at the Session Hall of the Supreme Court earlier today.
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— Philippine Supreme Court Public Information Office (@SCPh_PIO) September 14, 2021

A native of Marawi City, Dimaampao obtained his law and business administration (major in accounting) degrees from the University of the East. He passed the bar examinations in 1988.

His fields of expertise include civil law, commercial law, Shari’ah and Islamic jurisprudence, and taxation.

The last time a Muslim magistrate was appointed to the SC was in 1987 when then-President Corazon Aquino promoted then-CA justice Abdulwahid Bidin.

Dimaampao is expected to serve in the high court until he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2033.

Duterte has yet to appoint the replacement of retired SC Justice Edgardo delos Santos. — BM, GMA News