TWO SEATS Court of Appeal Presiding: Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo and President of the Court of Appeal Alexander Gesmundo. —SUPREME COURT PHOTO
President Marcos appointed Associate Justice Mariflora Punzalan-Castillo as presiding judge of the Court of Appeals (CA).
Castillo, who was among seven candidates shortlisted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) presented for President Marcos’ election, replaced Justice Remedios Salazar Fernando, who retired in September.
Before being nominated by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2014, Castillo was the second-oldest member of the appeals court and will reach retirement age next year.
Castillo, a graduate of the University of the Philippines, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1974 and a bachelor’s degree in law in 1978.
She began her legal career as an investigator in the Tanodbayan Office – the predecessor of the Ombudsman – in 1979, a position she held until 1985, when she was appointed Prosecutor of that office.
In 1989, she was promoted to the rank of Special Prosecutor III in the Office of the Special Prosecutor at the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, where she served for four years.
She then joined the judiciary as the presiding judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court, Branch 42 of Quezon City from 1993 to 1999, and later as the presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 84 of Quezon City from 1999 to 1999, 2004.
As an RTC judge, she also served as a judge of the Special Court for Drug-Related Cases from 2000 to 2001 and as a judge of the Family Court of the same court from 2001 to 2004.
In March 2004, she was appointed an associate judge of the CA.
Castillo has previously been nominated for the SC position. She was among the candidates for the position of deputy judge of the Supreme Court in 2016. INQ
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