(Eagle News) — The Supreme Court has a new associate justice.
President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Court of Appeals justice Ramon Paul Hernando to the position left vacated by now-Ombudsman Samuel Martires a week after the Judicial and Bar Council submitted to him its official shortlist.
Apart from Hernando, the shortlist included CA Justices Japar Dimaampao, Ramon Garcia, Manuel Barrios, Apolinario Bruselas Jr. , Rosmari Carandang Edgardo delos Santos and Amy Lazaro-Javier.
Supreme Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez was also included in the shortlist even after Davao Mayor Sara Duterte expressed opposition to his appointment.
The presidential daughter had said Marquez had been trying to convince complainants to junk the case filed against her for punching a sheriff a few years back.
Marquez denied the allegations, saying he believed his credentials could stand on their own but that he could not stop his own friends from doing favors for him.