Associate Justice Carandang retires

MANILA, Philippines — Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang, who penned the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of the controversial anti-terror law last month, has retired.

Carandang bade farewell to her colleagues on Friday, leaving the judiciary after 27 years and two days before turning 70, the mandatory retirement age for the members of the bench.

Due to health precautions, the high tribunal decided to forego the traditional retirement ceremony and held a hybrid Mass and program for the 181st justice of the country’s highest judicial body.

Before President Rodrigo Duterte appointed her to the high court on Nov. 26, 2018, Carandang served as an associate justice of the Court of Appeals for nearly 16 years.

—MARLON RAMOS