Login
Login

Chief Justice of the Philippines

{{Short description|Highest judicial officer}}

{{use Philippine English||date=August 2019}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2012}}

{{Infobox Political post

| border = presidential

| font_color = pink

| post = Chief Justice

| body = the Philippines

| native_name = {{smaller|{{nobold|{{lang|fil|Punong Mahistrado ng Pilipinas}}}}}}

| termlength = Retirement at the age of 70

| style = The Honorable {{small|(formal)}}
Your Honor {{small|(when addressed directly in court)}}

| member_of = * Supreme Court

| image = File:Chief-Justice-Alexander-G.-Gesmundo.jpg

| imagesize =

| incumbent = Alexander Gesmundo

| incumbentsince = April 5, 2021

| appointer = Presidential appointment upon nomination by the Judicial and Bar Council

| formation = June 11, 1901

| inaugural = *1583 - Santiago de Vera y Rivas, Captain-General of the Spanish East Indies (Real Audiencia, Spanish East Indies)

| website = [http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/ Official Website]

}}

Chief Justice of the Philippines ({{langx|fil|Punong Mahistrado ng Pilipinas}}) is the title of the person who presides over the Supreme Court of the Philippines and who is the highest judicial officer of the government.

As of April 5, 2021, the position is currently held by Alexander Gesmundo, who was appointed by then 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{{anchor|List of chief justices}}

{{see also|Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines|Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:1px #AAAAFF solid"

!No.

! align="center" width="0" |Image

! align="center" width="0" |Chief justice

! align="center" width="0" |Tenure

! align="center" width="0" |Appointed by

!Law school

!Prior office

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1st

|100px

|Cayetano Arellano
{{Small|(1847–1920)}}

|June 15, 1901
–
April 12, 1920
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1901|6|15|1920|4|12}})}}
{{Small|(Resigned)}}

|William McKinley

| rowspan="4" |UST

|President of the
Supreme Court
{{Small|(1899–1901)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2nd

|100px

|Victorino Mapa
{{Small|(1855–1927)}}

|July 1, 1920
–
October 31, 1921
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1920|7|1|1921|10|31}})}}
{{Small|(Resigned)}}

|Woodrow Wilson

|Secretary of Justice
{{Small|(1913–1920)}}
Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1901–1913)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3rd

|100px

|Manuel Araullo
{{Small|(1853–1924)}}

|November 1, 1921
–
July 26, 1924
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1921|11|1|1924|7|26}})}}
{{Small|(Died)}}

|Warren G. Harding

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1913–1921)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4th

|100px

|Ramon Avanceña
{{Small|(1872–1957)}}

|April 1, 1925
–
December 5, 1941
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1925|4|1|1941|12|24}})}}
{{Small|(Resigned)}}

|Calvin Coolidge

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1917–1925)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5th

|100px

|Jose Abad Santos
{{Small|(1886–1942)}}

|December 24, 1941
–
May 1, 1942{{ref|santos|1}}
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1941|12|24|1942|5|1}})}}
{{Small|(Died)}}

|Manuel L. Quezon

|Northwestern

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1932–1941)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6th

|100px

|Jose Yulo
{{Small|(1894–1976)}}

|January 26, 1942
–
July 9, 1945
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1942|5|7|1945|7|9}})}}
{{Small|(Resigned)}}

|Masaharu Homma

|UP

|Speaker of the
National Assembly
{{Small|(1939–1941)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7th

|100px

|Manuel Moran
{{Small|(1893–1961)}}

|July 9, 1945
–
March 20, 1951
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1945|7|9|1951|3|20}})}}
{{Small|(Resigned)}}

|Sergio Osmeña

|Escuela de Derecho

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1938–1945)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8th

|100px

|Ricardo Paras
{{Small|(1891–1984)}}

|April 2, 1951
–
February 17, 1961
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1951|4|2|1961|2|17}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

|Elpidio Quirino

| rowspan="2" |UP

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1941–1951)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 9th

|100px

|Cesar Bengzon
{{Small|(1896–1992)}}

|April 28, 1961
–
May 29, 1966
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1961|4|28|1966|5|29}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

|Carlos P. Garcia

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1945–1961)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 10th

|100px

|Roberto Concepcion
{{Small|(1903–1987)}}

|June 17, 1966
–
April 18, 1973
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1966|6|17|1973|4|18}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

| rowspan="6" |Ferdinand Marcos

|UST

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1954–1966)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 11th

|100px

|Querube Makalintal
{{Small|(1910–2002)}}

|October 21, 1973
–
December 22, 1975
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1973|10|21|1975|12|22}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

| rowspan="5" |UP

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1962–1973)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 12th

|100px

|Fred Ruiz Castro
{{Small|(1914–1979)}}

|January 5, 1976
–
April 19, 1979
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1976|1|5|1979|4|19}})}}
{{Small|(Died)}}

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1966–1976)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 13th

|100px

|Enrique Fernando
{{Small|(1915–2004)}}

|July 2, 1979
–
July 24, 1985
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1979|7|2|1985|7|24}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1967–1979)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 14th

|100px

|Felix Makasiar
{{Small|(1915–1992)}}

|July 25, 1985
–
November 19, 1985
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1985|7|25|1985|11|19}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1970–1985)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 15th

|100px

|Ramon Aquino
{{Small|(1917–1993)}}

|November 20, 1985
–
March 6, 1987
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1985|11|20|1987|3|6}})}}
{{Small|(Resigned)}}

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1973–1985)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 16th

|100px

|Claudio Teehankee
{{Small|(1918–1989)}}

|April 2, 1987
–
April 18, 1988
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1987|4|2|1988|4|18}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

| rowspan="4" |Corazon Aquino

|Ateneo

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1969–1987)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 17th

|100px

|Pedro Yap
{{Small|(1918–2003)}}

|April 19, 1988
–
June 30, 1988
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1988|4|19|1988|6|30}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

| rowspan="2" |UP

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1986–1988)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 18th

|100px

|Marcelo Fernan
{{Small|(1927–1999)}}

|July 1, 1988
–
December 6, 1991
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1988|7|1|1991|12|6}})}}
{{Small|(Resigned)}}

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1986–1988)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 19th

|100px

|Andres Narvasa
{{Small|(1928–2013)}}

|December 8, 1991
–
November 30, 1998
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1991|12|8|1998|11|30}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

|UST

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1986–1991)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 20th

|100px

|Hilario Davide Jr.
{{Small|(born 1935)}}

|November 30, 1998
–
December 20, 2005
{{Small|({{age in years and days|1998|11|30|2005|12|20}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

|Joseph Estrada

|UP

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1991–1998)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 21st

|100px

|Artemio Panganiban
{{Small|(born 1937)}}

|December 20, 2005
–
December 7, 2007
{{Small|({{age in years and days|2005|12|20|2007|12|7}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

| rowspan="3" |Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

|FEU

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1995–2005)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 22nd

|100px

|Reynato Puno
{{Small|(born 1940)}}

|December 7, 2007
–
May 17, 2010
{{Small|({{age in years and days|2007|12|7|2010|5|17}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

|UP

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(1993–2007)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 23rd

|100px

|Renato Corona
{{Small|(1948–2016)}}

|May 17, 2010
–
May 29, 2012{{ref|corona|2}} {{ref|carpio|3}}
{{Small|({{age in years and days|2010|5|17|2012|5|29}})}}
{{Small|(Impeached)}}

|Ateneo

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(2002–2010)}}

–

|100px

|Maria Lourdes Sereno
{{Small|(born 1960)}}

|August 25, 2012
–
May 11, 2018{{ref|carpio|3}} {{ref|sereno|4}}
{{Small|({{age in years and days|2012|8|25|2018|5|11}})}}
{{Small|(De facto Chief Justice,
appointment null and void ab initio)}}

|Benigno Aquino III

| rowspan="2" |UP

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(2010–2012)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 24th

|100px

|Teresita de Castro
{{Small|(born 1948)}}

|August 28, 2018
–
October 10, 2018{{ref|carpio|3}} {{ref|castro|5}}
{{Small|({{age in years and days|2018|8|28|2018|10|10}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

| rowspan="4" |Rodrigo Duterte

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(2007–2018)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 25th

|100px

|Lucas Bersamin
{{Small|(born 1949)}}

|November 26, 2018
–
October 18, 2019
{{Small|({{age in years and days|2018|11|26|2019|10|18}})}}
{{Small|(Retired)}}

|UE

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(2009–2018)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 26th

|File:Peralta in robes.jpg

|Diosdado Peralta
{{Small|(born 1952)}}

|October 23, 2019
–
March 27, 2021
{{Small|({{age in years and days|2019|10|23|2021|3|27}})}}
{{Small|(Resigned)}}

|UST

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(2009–2019)}}

scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 27th

|File:CJ Alexander Gesmundo (2021).jpg

|Alexander Gesmundo
{{Small|(born 1956)}}

|April 5, 2021
–
present
{{Small|({{age in years and days|2021|04|05}})}}

|Ateneo

|Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
{{Small|(2017–2021)}}

{{Politics of the Philippines}}{{Refbegin}}

:{{note|santos|1}} José Abad Santos was unable to preside over the Supreme Court due to the outbreak of World War II.

:{{note|corona|2}} Renato Corona was impeached on December 12, 2011, and convicted on May 29, 2012, removing him from office.

:{{note|carpio|3}} Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio served as acting chief justice after the Impeachment of Renato Corona from May 30, 2012 to August 25, 2012{{cite news |title=Carpio is acting chief justice under SC order |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/203485/carpio-is-acting-chief-justice-under-sc-order |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=May 30, 2012 |access-date=May 30, 2012}} and after the removal of Maria Lourdes Sereno via quo warranto proceedings from May 14, 2018 to August 25, 2018.

:{{note|sereno|4}} Maria Lourdes Sereno was removed on May 11, 2018 via quo warranto by a special en banc session; the petition alleged Sereno's appointment was void ab initio due to her failure in complying with the requirements of the Judicial and Bar Council. Hence her entire term as chief justice is considered a de facto tenure;{{cite web|url=http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2018/may2018/237428.pdf|title=G.R. No. 237428. May 11, 2018|publisher=Supreme Court of the Philippines|date=May 11, 2018|access-date=May 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620153100/http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2018/may2018/237428.pdf|archive-date=June 20, 2018|url-status=dead}} legally void since the ouster of her predecessor. Sereno filed an ad cautelam motion for reconsideration pleading for the reversal of the decision on May 31, 2018, but on June 19, 2018 was denied with finality (meaning no further pleading shall be entertained, as well as for the immediate entry for judgment) for lack of merit.{{cite web|url=http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2018/june2018/237428.pdf|title=G.R. No. 237428. June 19, 2018|publisher=Supreme Court of the Philippines|date=June 19, 2018|access-date=June 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620153200/http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2018/june2018/237428.pdf|archive-date=June 20, 2018|url-status=dead}}

:{{note|castro|5}} As a result of Republic v. Sereno, Maria Lourdes Sereno is no longer considered the 24th chief justice of the Philippines, as the court ruled that her appointment was never legal but null and void ab initio. Thus, on August 25, 2018, Teresita de Castro was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as the new de jure and 24th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

{{Refend}}

Updated daily according to UTC.

Acting chief justices

The following became senior associate justices in their tenure in the Supreme Court:

class="wikitable"
style="text-align:center"|

! Senior Associate Justice !! Year appointed

!Term as AJ!! colspan="2|Tenure as Acting Chief Justice

Florentino Torres1901

|1901-1920

April 1, 1920April 20, 1920
rowspan="3" | Elias Finley Johnsonrowspan="3" | 1903

| rowspan="3" |1903-1933

April 20, 1920July 1, 1920
October 31, 1921November 1, 1921
July 26, 1924April 1, 1925
style="background: #fcc" |

|José Abad Santos

style="background: #fcc" | 1932

|1932-1941

style="background: #fcc" colspan="2"|December 24, 1941
style="background: #fcc" |

| style="background: #fcc" | Manuel V. Moran

style="background: #fcc" | 1938

|1938-1945

style="background: #fcc" |May 1, 1942May 7, 1942
style="background: #fcc" |

| style="background: #fcc" | Ricardo M. Paras Jr.

style="background: #fcc" | 1941

|1941-1951

style="background: #fcc" | March 20, 1951April 2, 1951
style="background: #fcc" |

| style="background: #fcc" | César F. Bengzon

style="background: #fcc" | 1945

|1945-1961

style="background: #fcc" | February 17, 1961April 28, 1961
style="background: #fcc" |

| style="background: #fcc" | Roberto R. Concepcion

style="background: #fcc" | 1954

|1954-1966

style="background: #fcc" |May 29, 1966June 17, 1966
style="background: #fcc" |

| style="background: #fcc" | Querube C. Makalintal

style="background: #fcc" | 1962

|1962-1973

style="background: #fcc" |April 18, 1973October 21, 1973
style="background: #fcc" |

| style="background: #fcc" | Fred Ruiz Castro

style="background: #fcc" | 1966

|1966-1975

style="background: #fcc" |December 22, 1975January 5, 1976
style="background: #fcc" |

| style="background: #fcc" | Enrique M. Fernando Sr.

style="background: #fcc" |1967

|1967-1979

style="background: #fcc" |April 19, 1979July 2, 1979
style="background: #fcc" |

| rowspan="3" style="background: #fcc" | Claudio Teehankee Sr.

rowspan="3" style="background: #fcc" | 1968

| rowspan="3" |1979-1986

style="background: #fcc" |July 24, 1985July 25, 1985
style="background: #fcc" |

|November 19, 1985

November 20, 1985
style="background: #fcc" |

|March 6, 1987

April 1, 1987
rowspan="3" | Ameurfina Melencio-Herrerarowspan="3" | 1979

1986 (reappointed)

| rowspan="3" |1979-1992

April 18, 1988

|April 19, 1988

June 30, 1988July 1, 1988
December 6, 1991December 8, 1991
Flerida Ruth P. Romero1991

|1991-1999

colspan="2"|November 30, 1998
style="background: #fcc" |

| style="background: #fcc" | Reynato S. Puno

style="background: #fcc" |1993

|1993

colspan="2" style="background: #fcc" |December 20, 2005
Leonardo A. Quisumbing1998

|1998-2009

colspan="2"| December 7, 2005
rowspan="5" | Antonio T. Carpiorowspan="5" | 2001

| rowspan="5" |2001-2019

colspan="2"| May 17, 2010
May 28, 2012August 25, 2012
May 11, 2018August 28, 2018
October 10, 2018November 28, 2018
October 17, 2019

|October 23, 2019

Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe2011

|2011-2022

March 27, 2022April 5, 2022