“A good person, strict but compassionate,” is how Ombudsman Samuel Martires described newly appointed Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro as he expressed his happiness for her appointment.
“I am very, very happy that she was chosen by the President as the country’s first lady Chief Justice. She deserves it,” Martires said in a text message.
De Castro will fill the spot vacated by Maria Lourdes Sereno after she was removed via quo warranto proceeding. Sereno was supposed to be the first female chief justice but the Supreme Court, in its decision last May said she is a “de facto officer” for “lack of a constitutional qualification…to hold the position as Chief Justice and is merely holding a colorable right or title thereto.”
Martires said De Castro deserves the appointment.
“She [De Castro] deserves it. She was my Presiding Justice at the Sandiganbayan and I’m pretty sure that the Sandiganbayan justices and employees are happy for her appointment as CJ,” Martires said.
De Castro was the Presiding Justice at the Sandiganbayan when Martires was appointed as one of its Associate Justices in 2005.
“She is a good person, strict but compassionate, a stickler to the rules, a workaholic,” he added. /jpv
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