Duterte names Palace official as new CA justice

Newly appointed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Michael Ong takes his oath of office before Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on Thursday, January 27, 2022. Photo from Supreme Court PIO

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed an official of Malacañang as the new Court of Appeals (CA) associate justice.

Deputy Executive Secretary Michael Ong took his oath of office on Thursday before Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo.

The Chief Justice has received Ong’s appointment papers from Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea afternoon Wednesday, January 26.

“We wish CA Justice Ong success in the Court of Appeals, and we are confident that he will continue to uphold the rule of law and to dispense justice with integrity, impartiality, and probity,” Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said in a statement.

Ong will take over the post vacated by Samuel Gaerlan, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in January 2020.

NEW APPOINTMENT: Court of Appeals Associate Justice Michael Pastores Ong (vice Samuel Gaerlan). He will take his oath before Chief Justice Gesmundo at 10am today. pic.twitter.com/HBnM398wwU

— Philippine Supreme Court Public Information Office (@SCPh_PIO) January 27, 2022

Ong was assistant secretary in the Office of the Presidential Legal Counsel from 2010 to 2012.  He was also with the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs before he assumed the post of Senior Deputy Executive Secretary in August 2018, replacing Menardo Guevarra who was then appointed as Justice Secretary.

Last January 21, Chief Justice Gesmundo also received the appointment papers and administered the oath of office of Jennifer Joy Chua Ong. Prior to her appointment, she is listed in the 2020 government directory as Presidential Assistant 1 with the rank of undersecretary at the Office of the President (OP).

Newly appointed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Jennifer Joy Chua Ong takes her oath of office before Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on January 21, 2022. Photo from Supreme Court PIO

At the time of her appointment, she was an undersecretary in the Office of the Appointments Secretary of the OP.

She took over the post vacated by retired Justice Ma. Luisa Q. Padilla.

EDV/KGA