Sandigan justice trying Erap appointed to SC

President Arroyo appointed yesterday Minita Chico-Nazario, the presiding judge in the corruption trial of deposed President Joseph Estrada, as associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Nazario, 64, becomes the eighth appointee of Mrs. Arroyo to the 15-member tribunal. She takes over the post vacated by Associate Justice Josue Bellosillo, who retired last November.

Mrs. Arroyo signed Nazario’s appointment the other day but it was only officially released yesterday by Malacañang.

"I was very, very happy when I received the news. God is so kind," Nazario told the SC public information office which released a statement about her appointment.

In a press briefing at Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye disclosed that Nazario got the President’s nod over four other nominees submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) chaired by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

"Justice Nazario has the credentials for the job and she was among those recommended by the JBC," Bunye said.

He admitted though that the President, who usually chooses the nominee who tops the JBC votes, did not agree with their top choice this time and instead picked Nazario over SC court administrator Presbiterio Velasco.

The JBC’s second choices were Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo and Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Cancio Garcia while its third choice was University of the Philippines professor Ruben Balane.

"As far as the JBC’s work is concerned, all of these candidates have the minimum qualifications for the position of associate justice," Bunye said.

"But the President could choose from any of the list. It just so happens that in some appointments, her personal choice coincided with the top preference of the JBC," he explained.

Nazario was the first woman appointed as a Sandiganbayan justice in May 1993 and became the chairman of the fifth division in September 1997. She was appointed by Mrs. Arroyo last year to head the special court created at the Sandiganbayan to exclusively handle the plunder trial of Estrada.

Bunye strongly took exception to charges that Nazario’s appointment was a reward for her handling of the Estrada plunder trial.

The Supreme Court said she instituted quite a number of reforms in the Sandiganbayan, including the welfare plan for employees.

Nazario finished law school in 1962 at the University of the Philippines. She passed the Bar in the same year and was later admitted to the New York Bar. She began her work in the high court in 1973 as a judicial assistant in the judicial reports and statistics division.

She also served as senior judicial assistant at the office of the late SC chief Justice Fred Ruiz from 1977 to 1979 and subsequently at the office of then Deputy Court Administrator Leo Madialdea.

In 1981, Nazario joined the Sandiganbayan as first division clerk of court. She moved over as regional trial court judge in Biñan, Laguna from 1987 to 1993. She left the court service to teach law at Perpetual Help University from 1994 to 1997. But she returned to the Sandiganbayan in 1997 when she was named as chairman of the 5th division of the anti-graft court.

A native of San Miguel, Bulacan, she has received various awards, among them the 2002 Most Outstanding Kapampangan in the field of law.

Nazario is married to Rodolfo Nazario, the road manager of international boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and one of the active campaigners of Mrs. Arroyo. They have three children. — With Marichu Villanueva, AFP