Duterte appoints 52-year-old CA justice Hernando to Supreme Court

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Court of Appeals justice Ramon Paul Hernando as the newest associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), confirmed the development on Wednesday, just over a week after the JBC forwarded its shortlist of nominees to Malacañang.

A San Beda law alumnus, the 52-year-old Hernando will occupy the seat vacated by retired justice Samuel Martires, who was appointed Ombudsman in July.

He will serve a term of 18 years and reach the compulsory retirement age of 70 in 2036, making him one of the younger justices of the High Court. He is Duterte's sixth SC associate justice pick.

To recall, ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was also 52 years old when she was appointed head of the judiciary.

Hernando was an appeals court justice from 2012 to 2018. Prior to that, he was a San Pablo, Laguna regional trial court judge for two and a half years (2003-2006) and a state prosecutor for five (1998-2003).

He hails from Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, studied literature at the University of Santo Tomas before taking up law in UST and later at the San Beda College of Law. He passed the Bar exam in 1991 with a rating of 80.80 percent.

His appointment fills one of three vacant posts in the SC. Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, who retired Wednesday, left behind two seats -- that of the chief and of an associate.

Applications for the chief justice post will close on October 15. Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin has already accepted his automatic nomination, and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has said he no longer has a reason to decline his.

Meanwhile, aspirants for the associate justice vacancy left by De Castro will be interviewed by the JBC on October 18.

The JBC has also opened a fresh round of applications in anticipation of the retirement of Associate Justice Noel Tijam in January 2019. — NB/RSJ, GMA News