President Marcos has appointed court administrator Raul Villanueva as the new Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice, Malacañang said.
Marcos appoints Raul Villanueva as SC associate justice
Published Jun 10, 2025 07:46 am
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Updated Jun 10, 2025 01:17 pm
Raul Villanueva (Photo courtesy of SC Public Information Office)
Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro confirmed that the President has appointed Villanueva to the SC.
He will replace Associate Justice Mario Lopez who reached his mandatory retirement age last June 4.
Marcos administered the oath of office of Villanueva at the Malacañan Palace on Tuesday morning, June 10.
'Well-deserved appointment'
In his speech, he said designating Villanueva as the new SC associate justice was a "well-deserved appointment," citing his experience in the judiciary.
"We are very happy for this appointment because it is, as our new justice was saying, and now I was telling him, that it is a well-deserved appointment. He has a wealth of experience as a judge, an RTC judge, until 2002. And then he has been, from 2002 and since 2010, he has worked in the Supreme Court," Marcos said.
"And therefore he is well-versed in all that needs to be done for the proper and smooth function of the court," he added.
The President is hopeful that with Villanueva's appointment, the trend of closer relationship between the SC and the Executive would continue, telling him that he has a new role to play.
"We have begun a trend between the Supreme Court and the executive of a closer relationship in the past couple of years. And I know that the appointment of our new justice will continue that trend and bring the departments of government even closer than before. And so that the function of government is smoother, better, and that we are unified in our goal to making life better for Filipinos," he said.
"We all have our part to play, and Justice, you have a new part to play," he added.
Villanueva was the Presiding Judge of Branch 255 of the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court (RTC). He was at one point the acting Presiding Judge of Branch 267 of Taguig City RTC and acting Presiding Judge of Branch 4, Manila RTC.
He also served as Executive Judge of the Las Piñas City RTC.
In 2010, he was promoted as Deputy Court Administrator (DCA), a position he held until he became a Court Administrator.
Prior to joining the Judiciary, Villanueva worked for various government institutions and served all three branches of the government— Executive, Legislative, Judicial departments.
In 2021, he was designated as Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Court Administrator following the appointment of the former Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez as Associate Justice of the SC.