New Associate Justice comes from humble beginnings, SC says

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s newest Associate Justice apparently comes from humble beginnings, the Supreme Court (SC) revealed.

After news broke that former Court of Appeals (CA) associate justice Ricardo Rosario was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte, SC released a quick biography of the newest magistrate — revealing that he once briefly worked as a security guard for the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel in 1977.

Prior to that, Rosario was also a messenger for the Employees’ Compensation Commission in 1976.

“Justice Rosario started from humble beginnings. As the fourth of thirteen siblings, he worked his way through college taking up Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Far Eastern University,” SC’s Public Information Office (SC-PIO) said in a statement.

“He once worked as a messenger for the Employees’ Compensation Commission in 1976 and then as Security Guard for the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel for a few months in 1977, until his promotion to a Clerk position. Inspired by his lawyer father, Eduardo Rosario, he then took up law at the Ateneo University School of Law from 1979-1983,” it added.

Duterte’s appointment of Rosario, who was with CA for fifteen years, including his stint as chairperson of the 9th Division, was confirmed to reporters by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Friday.

Rosario will replace Associate Justice Jose Reyes, Jr., who retired on September 18.  Rosario’s mandatory retirement, on the other hand, will come by 2028.

“His entire professional career has been with government service. He secured his first job as a lawyer in the Legal Department of the National Bureau of Investigation as Legal Officer. This paved the path for his long and illustrious career as a government lawyer when he became Corporate Attorney for the Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System from 1986 to 1994,” SC-PIO said.

“In March 1994, he was appointed as Assistant City Prosecutor in Quezon City, and in 1997, as Presiding Judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court of Manila, Branch 19, and then as Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court,” it added. [ac]