8 judges, 1 clerk of court fêted in 2018 Judicial Excellence Awards

Eight judges and a clerk of court were honored for their "outstanding" work during the 2018 Judicial Excellence Awards held in Manila on Thursday.

The honorees were chosen from nominees from all over the country, the Supreme Court Public Information Office said in a press statement.

Judge Nadine Jessica Corazon Fama of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 79, who is said to have resolved all but 57 of the 613 cases in her docket between 2016 and 2017, was given the Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano Award.

Previously honored as a clerk of court, Judge Loreto Alog Jr. of the Lingayen, Pangasinan RTC Branch 69 is this year's Chief Justice Abad Santos Awardee.

The statement said Alog, who has physical disability caused by polio, won the bronze medal in the Accounting Cycle Category of the International Abilympics first in Hong Kong, then in Australia.

Three judges got the Chief Justice Ramon Avanceña Award for the Outstanding Second-Level Court Judge Category, namely: Pasig City RTC Branch 71 Judge Elisa Sarmiento-Flores, Batangas RTC Branch 84 Judge Dorcas Ferriols-Perez of the Batangas RTC Branch 84, and Manila RTC Branch 35 Judge Maria Bernardita Santos.

Sarmiento-Flores pioneered the use of live-link technology to allow child witnesses to testify while away from court, increasing court efficiency, the statement said. Ferriols-Perez, meanwhile, started out as a court legal researcher, then rose through the ranks until she was appointed as a judge.

Santos is said to have garnered many awards, including the Most Outstanding Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) Judge of Manila in 2008, then Most Outstanding RTC Judge of Manila in 2018.

On the other hand, awarded the Outstanding Metropolitan Trial Court Judge distinction were Judge Ana Theresa Cornejo-Tomacruz of the Manila MeTC Branch 21 and Judge Joel Socrates Lopena of the Quezon City MeTC Branch 33.

Cornejo-Tomacruz has had experience being a court attorney for various Supreme Court justices for 11 years before being appointed a MeTC judge in 2012. Lopena, meanwhile, is the first vice executive judge of the Quezon City MeTC and the vice chairperson of the Supreme Court's jail decongestion reform program.

Earning the Outstanding Municipal Trial Court Judge Award for the First-Level Judge Category is Judge Fritzie Cruz-Rojo of Antipolo Municipal Trial Court Branch 3. She is said to have ended 2017 with only 18 cases pending in her civil case docket.

Finally, Atty. Perpetua Socorro Enriquez-Belarmino of the Cebu City RTC Branch 8 was given the Outstanding Branch Clerk of Court (Single Sala) Award for the Second-Level branch Clerk of Court category.

She is said to have been described as a "rarity in the public service" for her "pleasant equanimity" at work. She worked at a private law firm before joining the judiciary as a clerk of court.

This year's Board of Judges was composed of Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, retired Associate Justices Romeo Callejo, Sr., Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, and Adolfo Azcuna, the statement said.

The board was also joined by retired Court of Appeals Justice Aurora Santiago Lagman, retired Sandiganbayan Justice Raoul Victorino, Legal Education Board Chairman Atty. Emerson Aquende, and Integrated Bar of the Philippines National President Atty. Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo, it added.

The awarding ceremonies were held at the Manila Hotel. — MDM, GMA News