Newly appointed Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Ricardo de Rivera Rosario took his oath of office on Friday afternoon, Oct. 9, before Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.
Justice Rosario’s appointment completed the membership in the SC composed of 15 justices. He is expected to serve in the SC until 2028.
He filled up the post of SC Associate Justice Jose C. Reyes Jr. who retired mandatorily last September 18 at age 70.
His appointment is a promotion from his Court of Appeals post which he served for 15 years. He was also a city prosecutor and judge of both the metropolitan trial court (MeTC) and regional trial court (RTC) before his CA appointment in 2005.
Justice Rosario is the President’s 11th incumbent appointee to the SC, the highest court in the country.
The other incumbent appointees of President Duterte are Associate Justices Alexander G. Gesmundo, Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Rosmari D. Carandang, Amy C. Lazaro Javier, Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Rodil V. Zalameda, Mario V. Lopez, Edgardo L. Delos Angeles, Samuel H. Gaerlan and Priscilla J. Baltazar Padilla.
Last year, the President also appointed Peralta as head of the judiciary. Peralta will serve as Chief Justice until 2022.
Justice Rosario is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University and passed the bar examinations in 1984 with a rating of 80.88 per cent.
He was born on Oct 15, 1958 as the fourth of the 13 children of lawyer Eduardo Gutierrez Rosario and former policewoman Anita De Rivera.
He is married to Maridur Basilio Virtucio with whom he has three children: Miguel Antonio, Anna Margarita and Allyssa Martha. They were with Justice Rosario during the oath-taking ceremony at the SC.
The new SC justice is the brother of Manila Bulletin’s Chief of Reporters Ben R. Rosario and Quezon City Senior Assistant Prosecutor Ma. Cristina R. Rosario Osoteo, an applicant to the post of RTC judge in the National Capital Judicial Region (NCJR).