Sandiganbayan Justice Martires is Duterte's first SC appointee

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Samuel Martires as the newest Supreme Court (SC) Justice.

Martires is going to replace SC Justice Jose Perez who retired on December 14. He is Duterte's first appointee to the high court.

JUST IN. SB AJ Samuel Martires appointed as the SC’s 175th Associate Justice and its newest member. (Statement of the Court attached). pic.twitter.com/o7E9UaNuy8

— Supreme Court PIO (@SCPh_PIO) March 6, 2017

Under the Constitution, the President has 90 days after the vacancy to choose a new SC magistrate.

According to Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, the transmittal letter on Martires' appointment was sent to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Monday afternoon.

Pres. Duterte's first Supreme Court appointee is Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Samuel Martires. pic.twitter.com/0KH8uMdhAz

— Trisha Macas (@trishamacas) March 6, 2017

Following his appointment, Martires said the feeling of joining the high court has not sunk in yet.

"'Yung pagiging justice ko hindi nagsi-sink in pa sakin yan. I thank the Lord for the blessing he has showered me. I just hope He will continue to bless me," he told reporters.

"I've been in lots of pressures. I just hope that the Lord will guide me. I hope the Lord will give me the strength. I need a sound mind and body to help me in my work sa Supreme Court," Martires added.

Martires, 68, was appointed Sandiganbayan justice in 2006 by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

He was a trial court judge in Agoo, La Union before he was elevated to the anti-graft court. He obtained his law degree from San Beda College, the alma mater of Duterte and some Cabinet members like Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.

Martires, who is set take his oath of office on Tuesday, penned the controversial Sandiganbayan decision that approved the plea bargain deal entered into by alleged plunderer retired Major General Carlos Garcia and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Duterte is due to name soon the successor of Associate Justice Arturo Brion, who retired last December 29, to complete the 15-man court. —Trisha Macas and Virgil Lopez/JST/NB, GMA News