Until his appointment as head of the country’s judiciary, Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo has been an active member of the Faculty of the School of Law and Jurisprudence of the Centro Escolar University (CEU).
(Supreme Court website / FILE PHOTO)
At the CEU, Chief Justice Gesmundo taught Civil Procedure and Practice Court.
Gesmundo was appointed Chief Justice by President Duterte. His appointment papers were received by the Supreme Court (SC) last April 5 and he immediately assumed his post on the same day after taking his oath of office before SC Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas Bernabe.
He took over the post vacated last March 27 by the now retired Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.
It was also the President who appointed Gesmundo as SC associate justice on Aug. 14, 2017. It was a promotion from his post as associate justice of the Sandiganbayan where he was appointed on Oct. 15, 2005.
He finished his law degree at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1984 and passed the bar examinations the following year.
His first public service was as trial attorney at the Office of the Solicitor General in 1985. He was awarded “Most Outstanding Solicitor” in 1998.
From July 17, 1998 to Feb. 15, 2001, he also served as commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in concurrent capacity as solicitor before his promotion as assistant solicitor general in 2002.
At the SC, Gesmundo is chairperson of the Technical Working Group for the Revision of the Law Student Practice Rule and the Organizing Committee for the 2019 Legal Education Summit.
He is vice chairperson of the SC’s Special Committee for the Rules of Procedure for Admiralty Cases, Special Committee for the Rules on Inspection (under the Philippine Competition Act), the Sub-Committee for the Revision of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, the Special Committee on the Rules of Procedure in Election Contests before the First Level Courts.
He is also a member of the Supreme Court Committees on Computerization and Library, on the Revision of the Rules of Court and the Special Committee on Speedy Trial.
Now as chief justice, Gesmundo may have to relinquish his posts in many committees of the SC as he would be the head of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal and ex-officio chairman of the JBC, among other positions inherent to his post as head of the judiciary.
He will preside over all full court sessions of the SC on top of overseeing the sessions of the SC’s first division which he also heads, although there is a working chairperson.
He is expected to serve as Chief Justice until Nov. 6, 2026 when he reaches age 70, the mandatory retirement age for members of the judiciary.