Marcos names two new CTA associate justices

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday appointed lawyers Debbie Jean Centeno-Dijamco and Paolo Teston as new associate justices of the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Centeno-Dijamco and Teston will assist CTA Presiding Justice Ma. Belen Ringpis-Liban in the court’s adjudicative and administrative functions.

Centeno-Dijamco earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Santo Tomas in 1995 and her Bachelor of Laws from San Beda College in 1999. She later completed the Management Development Program at the Asian Institute of Management in 2007.

In 2022, she completed the Pre-Judicature Program for Appellate Courts at the Philippine Judicial Academy.

Before her appointment to the CTA, Centeno-Dijamco served as an undersecretary of the Department of Education from 2025 to 2026.

She previously served as judicial staff head of former CTA Presiding Justice Roman Del Rosario from 2013 to 2025 and as a court attorney at the Regional Trial Court from 2011 to 2013.

Centeno-Dijamco also worked as a tax and corporate lawyer at SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co.) from 1999 to 2010.

Meanwhile, Teston earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from San Beda College in 2000 and his Bachelor of Laws from the same institution in 2005.

He completed the Pre-Judicature Program for Appellate Courts at the Philippine Judicial Academy in 2024.

Teston has served as a faculty member of the Manuel L. Quezon University College of Law since 2024.

He served as director general of the Food and Drug Administration from 2025 to 2026 and was appointed undersecretary of the Department of Health in 2025.

Before his appointment to the CTA, Teston worked as a senior associate at Marcos Ochoa Serapio & Tan Law Office (MOST Law) from 2019 to 2023.—MCG, GMA News