Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez retires on Wednesday, June 4, when he turns 70, the mandatory retirement age for members of the judiciary.

The SC is set to hold Lopez’s retirement ceremony today, June 3, at the court’s session hall.

Lopez was appointed SC associate justice on Dec. 5, 2019 after serving as associate justice of the Court of Appeals (CA) for 13 years.

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has submitted to President Marcos its 12 nominees to the post that would be vacated by Justice Lopez.

Whoever would be appointed by the President would be his first appointee to the 15-member SC, the highest court in the country.

Nominated were (in alphabetical order) Court of Appeals Associate Justice Nina Geluz Antonio-Valenzuela, CA Associate Justice Ramon M. Bato Jr., newly appointed Solicitor General Darlene Marie Basco Berberabe, CA Associate Justice Ramon A. Cruz, CA Associate Justice Maria Elisa Sempio Diy, CA Associate Justice Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez, CA Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta, CA Associate Justice Ronaldo Roberto B. Martin, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Karl B. Miranda, CA Associate Justic Walter S. Ong, Court of Tax Appeals Associate Maria Rowena M. San Pedro, and SC Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva.

Under the Constitution, the President has 90 days from the date of the vacancy in the judiciary to appoint a replacement.

The SC’s Office of the Spokesperson said Justice Lopez attended his final flag ceremony as member of the High Court last June 2 at the SC’s courtyard.

Addressing his colleagues and SC’s officials and personnel, Lopez said: “Serving in the Supreme Court has been a profound privilege -- isang tungkulin na puno ng responsibilidad at hamon (a duty that is full of responsibilities and challenges).”

“Although time now calls me to step aside, I leave with full confidence that my esteemed colleagues will carry on this mission with wisdom, integrity, and dedication,” he said.

He urged all court officials and personnel to “always remember the human side of justice -- because behind every case is a story, a life affected.”

Justice Lopez finished his Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, from the San Beda College.

He started working in the judiciary as technical assistant from 1981 to 1983 and then as hearing officer in the then Central Bank f the Philippines, now Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, until 1985.

He then became a special prosecution officer at the Office of the Ombudsman before his appointment as regional trial court (RTC) judge in 1994.

In 2005, he was honored with the Chief Justice Ramon Avanceña Award as Outstanding RTC Judge of the Philippines and for the Best Decision in a Civil Case in Second Level Courts. He was also a recipient of the prestigious Service Award of the Province of La Union in 2013.

The SC’s website states that Justice Lopez is a professor at San Beda College, University of the Philippines, University of Asia and the Pacific and Arellano University, where he was named the Most Outstanding Professor of the Year (2002 and 2004).

He is a notable pre-bar reviewer handling criminal law in various schools. He is an MCLE lecturer and has conducted lectures in various institutions, and IBP San Francisco, California, USA Chapter. In April 2015, he was a Guest Lecturer at the University of California in Berkeley, California, USA.  He is currently, a Professorial Lecturer II at the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

He is a State Party Governmental Expert in Criminal Law of the UN Convention Against Corruption, a member of the Society for Judicial Excellence, ASEAN Law Association, an alumnus of the Harvard Law School, Massachusetts, USA, and a fellow of the Academy of American and International Law, Plano, Texas, USA.

He is also a member of the 2014 Code of Crimes Committee and the Bar Exams Expert Committee at the University of the Philippines. He was the examiner in Criminal Law for the 2009 Bar Examination, and Legal Ethics for the 2017 Bar Examination.

He was the chairperson of the 2024 online Bar examinations committee of the SC.