Based on the transmittal letter of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. to Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, dated Sept., 18, 2012, the new CA justices are Quezon City RTC Judges Marie Christine Jacob and Henri Jean-Paul Inting; and Iligan City RTC Judge Oscar Badelles.
The three appointees replace retired justices Josefina Guevarra-Salonga, Juan Enriquez and Antonio Villamor.
Jacob is the judge handling the tax evasion case of Ang Galing Party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and his wife Angela.
Inting is the judge handling the case of a Manila policeman involved in the murder of Norwegian national Mikael Troy Johansen Rasay in a bar brawl last year. In 2004, Inting acquitted the late rapper Francis Magalona of drug possession.
Inting will be joining his mother Socorro at the appellate court; she was appointed CA justice in 2009.
There is another vacancy in the appellate court following the death from cardiac arrest two weeks ago of Justice Abraham Borreta, a member of the CA 22nd Division based in Cagayan de Oro City.
Borreta, 63, was the former Pasig City RTC judge who convicted Amin Imam Boratong and his wife in 2009 for operating the infamous shabu “tiangge” or flea market in the city.