Sandiganbayan (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has named Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 79 Judge Bernelito R. Fernandez as his first appointee in the Sandiganbayan.
In a letter to the Supreme Court, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said: “I am pleased to transmit herewith the appointment letter of Mr. Bernelito Fernandez, Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan (vice Teresita Diaz-Baldos), signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.”
Baldos, who was appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003, retired last July 22.
Fernandez is the son of former Tanodbayan Presiding Justice Bernardo Fernandez who also served as Tanodbayan or Ombudsman during the Marcos administration. The elder Fernandez was a member of the court, which acquitted the late Gen. Fabian Ver of murder charges in the assassination of President Aquino’s father, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
The President is expected to name three more magistrates in the next few months with the retirement of Justice Jose Hernandez and the early retirement of Justice Napoleon Inoturan and Justice Roland Jurado. The Sandiganbayan has seven divisions composed of a presiding justice and 20 associate justices. SFM