Duterte names new Sandiganbayan justice

President Rodrigo Duterte has elevated a Quezon City judge to the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.

Duterte appointed Quezon City Regional Trial Court branch 79 Judge Bernelito Fernandez to replace retired Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos, according to transmittal letter sent by Malacañang to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on December 7.

A son of former Sandiganyan Justice Bernardo Fernandez, the new magistrate was also shortlisted last year for the post vacated by dismissed Sandiganbayan Justice Gregory Ong.

Fernandez, however, lost to then-Assistant Solicitor General Sarah Jane Fernandez.

There are two more vacancies in the Sandiganbayan following the retirement of Associate Justice Jose Hernandez and the early retirement of Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan, whose potential successors were recently endorsed by the screening body Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to Malacañang.

Associate Justice Roland Jurado has also opted to leave the bench early or by February 2017.

The JBC is already accepting applicants for the post to be vacated by Jurado, who is originally scheduled to retire on January 31, 2023.  — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News