Marcos appoints two new Court of Tax Appeals Associate Justices
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (Mark Balmores)
President Marcos has appointed former Education Undersecretary Debbie Jean Centeno-Dijamco and former Health Undersecretary Paolo S. Teston as new Associate Justices of the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), Malacañang said.
Centeno-Dijamco and Teston will assist Presiding Justice Ma. Belen M. Ringpis-Liban in her adjudicative and administrative functions at the CTA, the Palace added.
Centeno-Dijamco earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Santo Tomas in 1995 and her Bachelor of Laws from San Beda College in 1999. She also completed a Management Development Program at the Asian Institute of Management in 2007 and took up a Pre-Judicature Program for Appellate Courts at the Philippine Judicial Academy in 2022.
Before her appointment, Centeno-Dijamco served as undersecretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) from 2025 to 2026.
She also worked as Judicial Staff Head of the former Presiding Justice of CTA, Hon. Roman G. Del Rosario, from 2013 to 2025, as well as Court Attorney at the Regional Trial Court from 2011 to 2013.
Centeno-Dijamco was also a tax and corporate lawyer of Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co.) from 1999 to 2010.
On the other hand, Teston obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree from San Beda College in 2000 and his Bachelor of Laws degree from the same institution in 2005.
He also completed the Pre-Judicature Program for Appellate Courts at the Philippine Judicial Academy in 2024.
Teston has served as a faculty member at the Manuel L. Quezon University College of Law since 2024. He was also the Director General of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2025 to 2026.
Teston served as undersecretary of the Department of Health (DOH) in 2025.
Before this new appointment at the CTA, Teston worked as a senior associate of the Marcos Ochoa Serapio & Tan Law Office (MOST Law) from 2019 to 2023.