Associate Justice Econg gets Supreme Court nomination

CEBU, Philippines —  Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, a Cebuana, is among the nine nominees for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

“Nalipay ug nagpasalamat ko sa nomination ug nanghinaut ko nga mabuligan sa Kahitas-an,” said Econg when sought for comments.

SC Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who is also the ex-officio chairperson of the Judicial and Bar Council, submitted the nominations dated June 18, 2021 to President Rodrigo Duterte.

Econg, a cum laude law graduate from the University of San Carlos, was then the presiding judge in Minglanilla, Cebu from 2002 to 2004.

She was then the presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 9 in Cebu City from 2004-2010.

After which she became the Judicial Reform Program Administrator of the Program Management Office of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 2010 to 2015.

In 2015 to 2016 she became the chief of Office of the Philippine Judicial Academy before becoming as Associate Justice of Sandiganbayan First Division in 2016 up to the present.

Currently, the SC has one vacant post of Associate Justice.

According to its website, the Supreme Court shall be composed of a Chief Justice and 14 Associate Justices.

There was a vacancy when Associate Justice Gesmundo was promoted as Chief Justice when Chief Justice Diosdado Madarang Peralta mandatorily retired when he turned 70 years old last March 27, 2021.

SC Associate Justice Edgardo delos Santos, who was then the Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals in Cebu City, will also be retiring this month.

The SC added that its members shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the JBC for every vacancy, without need of confirmation by the Commission on Appointments.

It further said that members of the Supreme Court are required to have proven competence, integrity, probity and independence; they must be natural-born citizens of the Philippines, at least forty years old, with at least fifteen years of experience as a judge of a lower court or law practice in the country. — GMR (FREEMAN)