New Sandiganbayan presiding justice takes oath

MANILA, Philippines – Newly appointed Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Cristina Cortez- Estrada took her oath of office yesterday at the Supreme Court, after 11 years of judicial service at the anti-graft court.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno administered the ceremony officially installing Estrada.

She replaced Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta who was appointed to the High Court last January.

Before Estrada was named presiding justice, she chaired the anti-graft court’s fifth division where she handled sequestration cases against the heirs of Ferdinand Marcos and tycoon Lucio Tan.

Estrada also served as a regional trial court judge for 15 years. She was appointed to the Sandiganbayan on March 3, 1998.

Her nomination as presiding justice of Sandiganbayan earlier caused concern among members of Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) because of her age.

The JBC was specifically concerned with limited reforms she would be able to introduce to the anti-graft court as she is set to retire before yearend.

During her interview at the JBC last March, she was asked if she would have enough time to serve as head of Sandiganbayan and dispose of about 600 pending cases. She replied: “Yes, eight months is a long time.”

The JBC had endorsed to Malacañang four applicants for the post of Sandiganbayan presiding justice. Apart from Estrada, also nominated were Associate Justices Norberto Heraldez, Francisco Villaruz, and Edilberto Sandoval.

Another nominee, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong, was delisted by the JBC due to pending legal issues on his citizenship.

JBC member Matias Defensor said they decided not to nominate Ong to prevent “embarrassment” if the latter gets appointed and then is stripped of his post if he is found to be not a natural-born Filipino.

The JBC encountered this in 2007 when they nominated Ong to the High Tribunal only to discover later that Ong is Chinese.

By then, Ong had already gotten the nod of President Arroyo.

The 1987 Constitution provides that an aspirant to any judicial post should be a natural-born Filipino citizen.