Yap sworn in as new CA justice

CEBU, Philippines - A day after rendering judgment on the mega shabu laboratory case, Mandaue Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap formally took her oath as associate justice of the Court of Appeals.

Yap took her oath before Justice Gabriel Ingles at branch 28 of the RTC in Mandaue City yesterday. She will be assigned at the appellate court’s 23rd division in Cagayan de Oro.

The oath-taking was witnessed by her children, relatives, the staff of her court in Mandaue City and Mandaue Mayor Jonas Cortes.

In an interview, Yap said she has mixed emotions about her promotion but is ready to face the challenges in her new environment.

“It’s like that you’re on the crossroad and that you’re about to move to another road…I’m imagining that I am on the crossroad and I am making this turn for my career,” she said.

Yap said the Supreme Court might install a temporary judge to handle the cases she will be leaving behind.

Ingles, a former RTC Judge in Cebu City, welcomed Yap’s appointment to the CA.

He said her integrity and competence makes her deserving of the appointment

“Maintain your independence and never hesitate to dissent,” Ingles advised the new justice.

Cortes also congratulated Yap, saying she would surely help “expedite cases pending before the Court of Appeals in Cagayan de Oro.”

Yap was appointed new associate justice by Malacañang on February 6, 2012. She presided over Branch 28 of the RTC in Mandaue City for 10 years.

Yap graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu and earned her law degree from the University of San Carlos.

Last Thursday, she handed down her verdict on one of the most celebrated cases in Cebu’s history by sentencing to life imprisonment nine foreigners and two Filipinos for operating an illegal drug laboratory in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City. — (FREEMAN)