President Marcos has appointed Associate Justice Mariflor P. Punzalan Castillo as presiding justice of the Court of Appeals (CA), the country’s second highest court.
The appointment of Presiding Justice Castillo dated Nov. 14, 2023 was forwarded to the office of Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo by the Office of the President.
Castillo took over the post from then Presiding Justice Remedios A. Salazar Fernando who retired last Sept. 2.
The new CA presiding justice started her legal career as investigator at the then Tanodbayan, now Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) in 1979.
She served the OMB until 1993 when she was appointed Quezon City metropolitan trial court judge and later as judge of the regional trial court until 2004. She was appointed to the CA as associate justice on March 9, 2004.
As CA presiding justice, she will exercise administrative supervision and control of the appellate court not only in Manila, the main office, but also the stations in Cebu for the Visayas and in Cagayan de Oro for Mindanao.