CA justice Ricardo Rosario appointed to Supreme Court

Justice Ricardo Rosario of the Court of Appeals is the newest member of the Supreme Court (SC), Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed Friday.

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Rosario to the High Court, completing the 15-member tribunal once more following the retirement of Jose Reyes, Jr. in September.

Rosario took his oath before Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta Friday afternoon.

“As the newest member of the High Court, we are confident that Justice Rosario would advocate judicial independence, uphold the rule of law, and continue the reforms in our court processes,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

“We wish Justice Rosario all the best in his new assignment at the SC.”

Rosario has repeatedly applied for a post at the highest Philippine court, and the Judicial and Bar Council has included him in its shortlist several times.

Rosario obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1983 and became a lawyer the year after.

Before that, he worked as a messenger for the Employees’ Compensation Commission in 1976 and then became a security guard for the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel for a few months in 1977, until his promotion to a clerk position, according to the SC Public Information Office (PIO).

"Inspired by his lawyer father, Eduardo Rosario, he then took up law at the Ateneo University School of Law from 1979-1983," the SC PIO said.

As a lawyer, Rosario started out as a legal officer at the National Bureau of Investigation and went on to be a senior corporate attorney at the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. He was an assistant city prosecutor in Quezon City from 1994 to 1997.

He started his career in the judiciary in 1997, when he was appointed to the  metropolitan trial court of Manila. He also became a regional trial court judge in Makati. In 2005, he was appointed to the CA.

He will retire from the SC in 2028.— Virgil Lopez/AOL/RSJ, GMA News