Guam gets 1st Fil-Am judge

MANILA, Philippines - Another Filipina has brought pride to the Philippines after she was installed as the newest judge of the Superior Court of Guam.

Maria Teresa Bonifacio Cenzon was installed as the newest judge in a formal ceremony held last Dec. 20 at the Superior Court of Guam’s Atrium in Hagatna, the Philippine consulate general in Agana reported yesterday.

Cenzon is the first Filipino-American/Guamanian to hold the position.

She was nominated by Governor Eddie Calvo in September and her nomination easily passed confirmation by the 31st Guam Legislature.

Clad in a barong Tagalog, Calvo delivered the keynote address during the ceremony.

Also present during the event was Chief Justice F. Philip Carbullido, Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz of the Guam 31st Legislature, incumbent senators and newly elected senators, other judges of the Superior Court of Guam, government officials, representatives of the Guam consular corps, as well as family and friends of Cenzon.

Senator Adolpho Palacios, chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, presented the Certificate of Confirmation to Cenzon while Carbullido administered her oath.

Cenzon is a graduate of Loyola University’s Chicago School of Law. She has worked in the field of law in Guam since 1996. She served as the former director of Policy, Planning and Community Relations of the United Judiciary of Guam.

She worked as Calvo’s legal counsel before her appointment as judge.

She was born in Guam and is the daughter of Edward and Nita Cenzon, who hail from the province of Pampanga.