MANILA, Philippines -- The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan needs a new presiding justice following the retirement of Presiding Justice Ma. Cristina Cortez-Estrada barely five months after her appointment.

In a ceremony for her retirement held at the Sandiganbayan on Friday, Estrada said her five months as the anti-graft court's Presiding Justice "were the most fulfilling moments I had in my government career." She said she spent 47 years in government service.

Justice Edilberto Sandoval serves as acting Presiding Justice for the fourth time.

In her speech, Estrada broke into tears as she talked about her late mother, whom she said was her "biggest fan," and about her husband Alfredo, a labor lawyer who was killed five years after they got married.

Estrada first worked at the Office of the President after graduating from the University of the Philippines College of Law and passing the bar exams. She was appointed as a regional trial court judge in Legazpi City in 1983.

Former President Joseph Estrada appointed her as an associate justice of the Sandiganbayan in 1998. She was appointed as Presiding Justice only last July.

Prior to her appointment at the Sandiganbayan’s highest post, she was the chair of the Fifth Division which handles cases against ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos and business tycoon Lucio Tan.

Estrada is the third female justice to be appointed as the head of the Sandiganbayan.

In a speech, Supreme Court Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, the first female presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan, described Estrada as a "virtuous lady" who served the judiciary "with dignity."

Estrada was pregnant when her husband was killed in 1971. She had to raise her three children by herself.

"When I lost him, I felt my world crumble," Estrada said.

Her eldest daughter is now a doctor while her eldest son is a Master of Business Administration graduate. Her youngest son is a lawyer.

Her children and grandchildren attended Friday's ceremony, also witnessed by all the 14 justices of the Sandiganbayan and the court's employees.