President Duterte has appointed retired Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Antonio T. Kho Jr. as associate justice of the Supreme Court (SC).
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo received Justice Kho’s appointment papers from the office of Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea on late Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 23.
Justice Kho took the post vacated by then Associate Justice Rosmari D. Carandang who retired last Jan. 9. The SC has appointed Carandang as chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJa), the judiciary’s education arm.
Kho retired as Comelec commissioner last Feb. 2.
His appointment as SC associate justice completed the membership in the 15-member High Tribunal. Based on the reorganization done by the SC in its three divisions early this month of February, Justice Kho is expected to be assigned to the court’s third division.
There will be a vacancy in the SC on May 14 with the retirement of Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas Bernabe. The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has yet to submit its nominees to the post.
A check with the internet showed that Justice Kho is a native of Jolo in Sulu. He finished his law degree at the San Beda University Law School. He was 10th placer in the 1991 bar examinations.
He was a former undersecretary of the Department of Justice and law professor at the Arellano Law School, San Beda University, and De La Salle University College of Law.