Chief Justice of the Philippines
Punong Mahistrado ng Pilipinas
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Seal_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_Republic_of_the_Philippines.svg/120px-Seal_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_Republic_of_the_Philippines.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Flag_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_Philippines.svg/180px-Flag_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_Philippines.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Chief-Justice-Alexander-G.-Gesmundo.jpg/220px-Chief-Justice-Alexander-G.-Gesmundo.jpg)
Alexander Gesmundo
Your Honor (when addressed directly in court)
- Supreme Court
- Presidential Electoral Tribunal
- Judicial and Bar Council
- 1583 - Dr. Santiago de Vera y Rivas, Captain-General of the Spanish East Indies (Real Audiencia, Spanish East Indies)
- 1901 - Cayetano Arellano (Supreme Court of the Philippines)
The chief justice of the Philippines (Filipino: Punong Mahistrado ng Pilipinas) presides over the Supreme Court and is the highest judicial officer of the government of the Philippines. As of April 5, 2021, the position is currently held by Alexander Gesmundo, who was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte following the early retirement of his predecessor, Diosdado Peralta, in March 2021.
The chief justice, who was first named on June 11, 1901, in the person of Cayetano Arellano, is the oldest existing major governmental office continually held by a Filipino, preceding the presidency and vice presidency (1935), senators (1916, or as the Taft Commission, on September 1, 1901) and the members of the House of Representatives (1907 as the Philippine Assembly).
Duties and powers
The power to appoint the chief justice lies with the president of the Philippines, who makes the selection from a list of three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council. There is no material difference in the process of selecting a chief justice from that in the selection of associate justices. As with the other justices of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is obliged to retire upon reaching the age of 70; otherwise there is no term limit for the chief justice. In the 1935 constitution, any person appointed by the president has to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments; in the 1973 constitution, the person whom the president appointed did not have to undergo confirmation under the Commission on Appointments.
The current 1987 constitution does not ascribe any formal role to the chief justice other than as an ex-officio chairman of the Judicial and Bar Council and as the presiding officer in any impeachment trial of the president. The chief justice is also required to personally certify every decision that is rendered by the court. The chief justice carries only 1 vote out of 15 in the court, and is generally regarded, vis-a-vis the other justices, as the primus inter pares rather than as the administrative superior of the other members of the court.
Still, the influence a chief justice may bear within the court and judiciary, and on the national government cannot be underestimated. In the public eye, any particular Supreme Court is widely identified with the identity of the incumbent chief justice, hence appellations such as "The Fernando Court" or "The Puno Court". Moreover, the chief justice usually retains high public visibility, unlike the associate justices, who tend to labor in relative anonymity, with exceptions such as Associate Justice J. B. L. Reyes in the 1950s to 1970s.
By tradition, it is also the chief justice who swears into office the president of the Philippines. One notable deviation from that tradition came in 1986, and later again in 2010. Due to the exceptional political circumstances culminating in the People Power Revolution, on February 25, 1986, Corazon Aquino took her oath of office as president before Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee in San Juan just minutes before Ferdinand Marcos took his own oath of office also as president before Chief Justice Ramon Aquino. Marcos fled into exile later that night. More than two decades afterwards, Benigno Simeon Aquino III followed in his mother's footsteps (with almost similar reasons) by having Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales administer his oath of office, rather than Chief Justice Renato Corona (who was eventually impeached halfway through Aquino's term). Six years later, in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte took his oath of office before Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes, his classmate at San Beda College of Law, instead of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno (who would eventually be removed from her position through quo warranto after it was determined that she had been unlawfully holding office ab initio).
The chief justice also names the three justices each from the Supreme Court in the memberships of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal and the Senate Electoral Tribunal.
The chief justice is the chief executive officer of the Philippine judiciary system and together with the whole Supreme Court, exercises administrative supervision over all courts and personnel.
List
No. | Image | Chief justice | Tenure | Appointed by | Law school | Prior office |
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1 | ![]() | Cayetano Arellano (1847–1920) | June 15, 1901 – April 12, 1920 (18 years, 302 days) (Resigned) | William McKinley | UST | President of the Supreme Court (1899–1901) |
2 | ![]() | Victorino Mapa (1855–1927) | July 1, 1920 – October 31, 1921 (1 year, 122 days) (Resigned) | Woodrow Wilson | Secretary of Justice (1913–1920) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1901–1913) | |
3 | ![]() | Manuel Araullo (1853–1924) | November 1, 1921 – July 26, 1924 (2 years, 268 days) (Died) | Warren G. Harding | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1913–1921) | |
4 | ![]() | Ramon Avanceña (1872–1957) | April 1, 1925 – December 5, 1941 (16 years, 267 days) (Resigned) | Calvin Coolidge | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1917–1925) | |
5 | ![]() | Jose Abad Santos (1886–1942) | December 24, 1941 – May 1, 19421 (128 days) (Died) | Manuel L. Quezon | Northwestern | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1932–1941) |
6 | ![]() | Jose Yulo (1894–1976) | January 26, 1942 – July 9, 1945 (3 years, 63 days) (Resigned) | Masaharu Homma | UP | Speaker of the National Assembly (1939–1941) |
7 | ![]() | Manuel Moran (1893–1961) | July 9, 1945 – March 20, 1951 (5 years, 254 days) (Resigned) | Sergio Osmeña | Escuela de Derecho | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1938–1945) |
8 | ![]() | Ricardo Paras (1891–1984) | April 2, 1951 – February 17, 1961 (9 years, 321 days) (Retired) | Elpidio Quirino | UP | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1941–1951) |
9 | ![]() | Cesar Bengzon (1896–1992) | April 28, 1961 – May 29, 1966 (5 years, 31 days) (Retired) | Carlos P. Garcia | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1945–1961) | |
10 | ![]() | Roberto Concepcion (1903–1987) | June 17, 1966 – April 18, 1973 (6 years, 305 days) (Retired) | Ferdinand Marcos | UST | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1954–1966) |
11 | ![]() | Querube Makalintal (1910–2002) | October 21, 1973 – December 22, 1975 (2 years, 62 days) (Retired) | UP | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1962–1973) | |
12 | ![]() | Fred Ruiz Castro (1914–1979) | January 5, 1976 – April 19, 1979 (3 years, 104 days) (Died) | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1966–1976) | ||
13 | ![]() | Enrique Fernando (1915–2004) | July 2, 1979 – July 24, 1985 (6 years, 22 days) (Retired) | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1967–1979) | ||
14 | ![]() | Felix Makasiar (1915–1992) | July 25, 1985 – November 19, 1985 (117 days) (Retired) | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1970–1985) | ||
15 | ![]() | Ramon Aquino (1917–1993) | November 20, 1985 – March 6, 1987 (1 year, 106 days) (Resigned) | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1973–1985) | ||
16 | ![]() | Claudio Teehankee (1918–1989) | April 2, 1987 – April 18, 1988 (1 year, 16 days) (Retired) | Corazon Aquino | Ateneo | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1969–1987) |
17 | ![]() | Pedro Yap (1918–2003) | April 19, 1988 – June 30, 1988 (72 days) (Retired) | UP | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1986–1988) | |
18 | ![]() | Marcelo Fernan (1927–1999) | July 1, 1988 – December 6, 1991 (3 years, 158 days) (Resigned) | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1986–1988) | ||
19 | ![]() | Andres Narvasa (1928–2013) | December 8, 1991 – November 30, 1998 (6 years, 357 days) (Retired) | UST | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1986–1991) | |
20 | Hilario Davide Jr. (born 1935) | November 30, 1998 – December 20, 2005 (7 years, 20 days) (Retired) | Joseph Estrada | UP | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1991–1998) | |
21 | ![]() | Artemio Panganiban (born 1937) | December 20, 2005 – December 7, 2007 (1 year, 352 days) (Retired) | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | FEU | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1995–2005) |
22 | ![]() | Reynato Puno (born 1940) | December 7, 2007 – May 17, 2010 (2 years, 161 days) (Retired) | UP | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1993–2007) | |
23 | ![]() | Renato Corona (1948–2016) | May 17, 2010 – May 29, 20122 3 (2 years, 12 days) (Impeached) | Ateneo | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (2002–2010) | |
– | ![]() | Maria Lourdes Sereno (born 1960) | August 25, 2012 – May 11, 20183 4 (5 years, 259 days) (De facto Chief Justice, appointment null and void ab initio) | Benigno Aquino III | UP | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (2010–2012) |
24 | ![]() | Teresita de Castro (born 1948) | August 28, 2018 – October 10, 20183 5 (43 days) (Retired) | Rodrigo Duterte | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (2007–2018) | |
25 | ![]() | Lucas Bersamin (born 1949) | November 26, 2018 – October 18, 2019 (326 days) (Retired) | UE | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (2009–2018) | |
26 | ![]() | Diosdado Peralta (born 1952) | October 23, 2019 – March 27, 2021 (1 year, 155 days) (Resigned) | UST | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (2009–2019) | |
27 | ![]() | Alexander Gesmundo (born 1956) | April 5, 2021 – present (3 years, 147 days) | Ateneo | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (2017–2021) |
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[4] Acting Chief JusticesThe following became Senior Associate Justices in their tenure in the Supreme Court:
DemographicsLongevity
By age group
By gender
By appointing president
By law school
Notable chief justices
Timeline![]() Gallery
See also
References
Further reading
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