Aquino appoints 18 new judges for Visayas; Mandaue RTC gets new judge

A clerk of the Court of Appeals (CA) in Cebu City is among the 18 new judges appointed by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III in the Visayas.

Mercedita Dadole-Ygnacio, clerk of court of the appellate court’s 18th division, will assume her new post as presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 28 in Mandaue City.

Ygnacio, whose mother Mercedes is a retired associate justice of the CA, was chosen by President Benigno Aquino III from a shortlist prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

The JBC is a constitutional body mandated to screen and vet nominees for vacant positions in the judiciary and the Offices of the Ombudsman.

Before her appointment as judge, Ygnacio worked under the supervision of three magistrates of the CA’s 18th division.

In a two page transmittal letter to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno received by the high court last June 27, newly appointed judges with their places of assignment are the following:

The new judges in Central Visayas are the following:

Judge Mercedita Dadole-Ygnacio – Mandaue City RTC Branch 28

Judge Laebeth Lungay Varquez – Tagbilaran City MTCC in Bohol

Judge Yvette Christine Labrador-Soleng – MCTC Loay0Albuquerque-Baclayon, Bohol

Judge Maria Corazon Calumbayan Gadugdug – MTCC Branch2, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Judge Leah Partosa – Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 1 in Bohol

Judge Ma. Katrina Cabalde Gonzalez – 2nd MCTC Manjuyod-Ayungon-Bindoy Negros Oriental

The government hopes to fill up the vacancy in the Judiciary.

Records from the National Statistical and Coordination Board show that the number of judges decreased from 1,710 in 2007 to about 1,600 in 2009./Inquirer and Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol