The Supreme Court (SC) has appointed Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta as court administrator.

Court Administrator Gomez-Estoesta assumed office on Monday, Sept. 1, after taking her oath of office before Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo.

She took over the post of then court administrator Raul B. Villanueva who has been appointed SC associate justice.

As court administrator with the rank of presiding justice of the Court of Appeals – the country’s second highest court -- Gomez-Estoesta will assist the SC in managing and supervising all courts nationwide, and will lead in setting overall strategy, policy direction, and innovation initiatives for all trial courts.

Under the five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI), the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) has been undergoing modernization to make it more responsive, service-focused, and better supported across regions.

The SC has started setting up Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) with six offices already launched in 2024.

The OCA was created under Presidential Decree No. (PD) 828 which was later on amended by PD 842.

A press briefer issued by the SC’s Office of the Spokesperson stated that Justice Gomez-Estoesta has served the government for 34 years. She began her career as a solicitor at the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) from 1991 to 2002.

She joined the Judiciary in 2002 as judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court in Manila. Four years later, she was promoted as judge of the Manila Regional Trial Court.

In 2014, Justice Gomez-Estoesta was promoted as associate justice of the Sandiganbayan and was chairperson of the anti-graft court’s seventh division when she was appointed court administrator.

Court Administrator Gomez-Estoesta was a multi-awarded trial court judge.

In 2005, she received the “Most Outstanding Judge for First-Level Courts and Best Decision in Criminal Cases Awards.”

In 2012, she was honored with the “Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano Award as Most Outstanding Judge for Second-Level Courts.”

She is also active in legal education. Since 2015, she has been teaching at the Ateneo de Manila University (AdeMU) School of Law and is a professorial lecturer at the Philippine Judicial Academy, the education arm of the SC.

She was a Bar examiner for Remedial Law and Legal Ethics in the 2024 Bar Examinations.

She earned her law degree from the AdeMU and passed the Bar in 1991. She also holds a Political Science degree from the De La Salle University, where she graduated cum laude and received the Gold Medal for Excellence in Political Science.