Duterte makes 1st appointment to judiciary

President Duterte has named Quezon City Branch 79 regional trial court Judge Bernelito R. Fernandez as his first appointee to 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 on July 22.

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. —GIL CABACUNGAN